


Who's the Daddy

by multifanwho



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Joint parenting, Multi, also because this is not my best work but still, high key inspired from chapter 16 of darling we could watch the world burn how narcissistic of me, watch this get less hits because it's rated teen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-01-06 06:56:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 30,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18383285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multifanwho/pseuds/multifanwho
Summary: Team TARDIS are stuck in 1969 after a ten month old baby is left abandoned at the TARDIS doors. As they figure out what to do with her, their relationships and feelings for each other are put to the test. Can the fam survive looking after a child? Or will they end up thriving and bringing out the best in each other?





	1. Yaz

Another day, another adventure with the Doctor Graham and Ryan. London 1969 was exactly how you would expect it to be. The hippie era was in full swing and the Doctor had dressed them all appropriately, even switching out her own coat for a colourful floral patterned shirt. Graham got a lot of praise for being so ‘broad minded’ at his age but Graham reminded them when they were alone that he was actually a young man in 1969. Ryan, well, Ryan seemed to fit in perfectly, actually. He had made many a friend through the day and Graham and Yaz took great pleasure from teasing him about one girl in particular. Yaz enjoyed herself despite having to turn off her police brain every time she walked into some funky smelling second hand smoke. Her hair was in plaits and she was never really conscious of her hair or how she had it, but something the Doctor said made her choose that style today.

“I need a fat nap.” Ryan says as they turn a corner and see the TARDIS only a few hundred yards down the road. They had been at a festival for the entire day, listening to music and having fun.

“How can a nap be fat?” The Doctor asks. “If you mean big, a big nap is just going to sleep so it’s not a nap at all.”

“Told you not to use lingo around her.” Yaz mutters.

“I am right here you know.”

“Only playing.” Yaz says. The Doctor turns away and hides a smile only Yaz could spot. She swears she's seen that smile once before.

_Wear it in plaits. I like the plaits._

“Hey, Doc, I think someone’s left you a gift basket.” Graham smiles pointing at the bottom skirting of the blue box.

The Doctor picks up her walking pace which Yaz assumes is because of intrigue but after glancing at her face she only sees concern. Every muscle in her face had tensed up.

“That’s not a gift basket.” The Doctor says under her breath and starts to run the short distance left. Yaz follows at the same speed. “A 1960’s police box in 1960’s London.” The Doctor stops and turns to look at Yaz when she arrives at her side, and hands her a piece of paper. “Tell me how old she is.” She instructs.

“Doctor, who-” Yaz’s question gets cut off when the Doctor reaches into the wicker basket a pulls out a child. An actual, literal baby in her arms.

“Age, please, Yaz.” The Doctor pushes open the TARDIS doors and walks in, ignoring Yaz’s shock and dropped jaw.

Yaz skim reads the note that was left with the kid aloud so that the Doctor could hear. She was in fact a she, she was ten and a half months old, and had a white mother and a black father. Her name was Annabelle but she mostly responded to Annie and that her mother couldn’t care for her the way she wanted to.

“Why would someone leave their kid, like I get why with us because of the police thing but, why?” Ryan says, the subject obviously a sore subject with his relationship or lack thereof with his dad. Yaz passes him the note left by the mother.

“It’s the 1960’s, Ryan. An unmarried white woman has a ding dong with a black man, falls pregnant, and has to give it away because of societal pressures or whatever.”

“But why not an orphanage? Or a children’s home?” Yaz asks. That seemed the logical places to leave a child, not with the police where the person abandoning them might see it and stop them.

“At this point in time it’s harder to find a mixed race baby a home than a white baby.” The Doctor sighs, stroking Annie's cheek to check her temperature.

Ryan sucks his teeth. “That’s fucked up.”

“A lot of stuff is fucked up with the human race. No offence.” The Doctor says matter of factly.

“I thought civil rights were on the move forward in the 1960’s?” Graham makes a fair point.

“You would think so but look at the Rodney King affair and the LA Riots. They were in 1991 to 1992 and- you two were alive then, right?” The Doctor pauses her explanation to speak to Yaz and Ryan.

“Give it a few more years.” Yaz answers.

“Oh boy, okay." The Doctor physically shakes off the notion that Yaz and Ryan are both so young. "Anyway the state of race relations in America and the UK now is not that different. Racism doesn't disappear, it evolves. It’s the same all over the universe, unfortunately.”

“And we can testify to that.” Ryan says, including Yaz in his statement.

Race always cropped its ugly head up when they travelled to the past. It was inescapable for the pair of them wherever they went. Ryan got the majority of the abuse. It was still there for Yaz but sometimes being a woman meant her race was overlooked at first. The Doctor and Graham, of course, got strictly defensive whenever a name or slur was directed at them. The Doctor perhaps a little too much and got close to a few physical altercations, especially when it was directly at Yaz, for some reason. 

“What are we going to do with you then?” The Doctor holds Annie at her side and lets her grab hold of her thumb. It was strange, seeing the Doctor so good with children. She was awkward and had little social skills around adults and yet with a human that had barely started living she knew exactly what to do.

“We could track down the mother using the note?” Yaz suggests.

“No she’s already made her intentions clear.” Ryan reminds her.

“Yaz, can I use your phone for a second?”

“Sure.”

The Doctor hands over the baby as she takes the phone out of Yaz’s back pocket herself. “Take her.” She says, running off.

About a minute of not being held by the Doctor, Annie started to cry. Yaz didn’t know what to do. She tries rocking her, Ryan tries making faces but that just seemed to make it worse. The Doctor scurries back, sonic in hand and makes the device glow in her face, making her stop crying for the moment. It was a relief.

“Anyone got a tissue?” Yaz asks the boys.

“Here.” Graham pulls out a handkerchief and wipes away the tears and snot from the little girl's perfectly smooth skin.

“Right. Little bit of a problem.” The Doctor says walking back into the room. “I’ve asked Kate, you know form UNIT, if she could take her until there was a more permanent family but she’s not available for the next week.”

“Doc, we’re in a time machine.”

“Yes I am aware of that Graham but I also scanned her to make sure I could take her out of this time period.” The Doctor shuffles waiting for someone to ask what the results were.

“And?” Yaz encourages her, shifting Annabelle to rest on her other hip and hoping that doesn’t make her cry again. Babies were heavier than she expected.

“And I can’t. She’s a fixed point, the TARDIS would blow up if we took her anywhere in time at least.”

“So what do we do now?” Graham asks what everyone is thinking. The Doctor takes Annie into her arms again and she rests her head on the Doctor’s shoulder as soon as she could. Yaz could tell that the Doctor was trying not to smile. Trying not to get too attached.

“We look after her. Until we find a proper solution.”

“Bagsy not doing the nappies.”

“All of us, Ryan.”

“Bloody hell that’s a point, we need supplies.” Graham realises.

“I saw a local shop when we came back. Yaz come with me?”

Without even needing to answer, Yaz handed over Annie carefully to Ryan, who accepted her nervously. They walk out onto the street with the sun starting to set in the sky. It smelt like the start of summer and Yaz loved the summer.

“Here.” The Doctor says pointing at an ATM. “Cover me. These were only introduced two years ago so they’re easy to hack.” Yaz stands by her side, covering any view of the Doctor’s suspicious behaviour. She gets out £100. Yaz thought it was a bit excessive but she remembers how her dad always brought up how much it cost to raise her and her sister. “I’m surprised there was even one nearby.”

“Doctor are you sure about this?” Yaz asks.

“She needs help, Yaz, I don’t refuse that.” The Doctor replies with no hesitation, shoving the money into the to pocket of her shirt.

“I know but,” Yaz pauses while the Doctor stares at her intently. Those hazel-green eyes mixed with the orange tint of the sunset turning into dusk caught Yaz off guard. She had to gather her thoughts before continuing. “None of us know how to keep that kid safe.”

“We make it work.” The Doctor says positively.

“How?” Yaz keeps pushing the Doctor to really consider what was going on. Does the Doctor not realise that she won't be able to travel until they sort it out. It could take weeks, maybe even months and Yaz hadn't seen the Doctor sit still for more than ten minutes.

“Well first off we get nappies, food, wet wipes and a change of clothes.” The Doctor lists off essentials. “And I speak baby.” She adds, casually.

“You speak what now?” Yaz asks.

“Baby. I understand baby, I can speak baby. I’ll know what she’s asking for and what she needs.” The Doctor smiles, flashing her perfectly straight teeth. “Makes it a bit easier.”

“You still surprise me.” Yaz says, her words muffled by her own shock.

“I’ve barely shown you anything yet.” The Doctor laughs. Yaz gets that familiar rush of excitement in the pit of her stomach. She liked hearing the Doctor laugh. “But one adventure at a time. Come on, before one of them drops her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome back to part two of me doing whatever the fuck I want and hoping other people like it too
> 
> Also:  
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_King  
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots


	2. Ryan

Ryan had figured out how to entertain their new companion while the Doctor and Yaz were out. He had been trying too hard before and it turns out simply carrying her around to look at the lights of the TARDIS was enough to keep her smiling. He was quickly becoming smitten with her dark brown eyes and cute tiny bows in her hair. So much so that the more time her spent with her the less nerves he had. Babies are scary when you haven’t had any experience with them. Ryan had no siblings himself and hadn’t spoken to his cousins since his mum's funeral. What if he held her wrong and hurt her joints? What if she starts fitting or got ill? What if he dropped her? All of those questions were still in the back of his mind but repressed every time Annie giggled. 

“You still alright with her, mate?” Graham checks in, looking up from his book.

“I’m good.” Ryan grins. “How much longer do you think they’re going to be?” 

Graham sighs and marks his page. “Depends.”

“What does that mean?” Ryan asks, confused. All Graham does is raise his eyebrows and he’s reminded. “Oh, right.” 

The thing was, the pair of them had started to sense something between Yaz and the Doctor. Something a little bit more than friends. Neither of them want to say anything to them incase they were reading it wrong but there was for sure some unrealised feelings there. The only thing that didn’t exist between the Doctor and Yaz was personal space. 

Ryan continues entertaining Annie by letting her roll herself around on the floor. It wasn’t like she was a small baby that needed help with everything she did. She was close to crawling and then she would be walking before any time had past. She had a personality. She had feelings and probably knew who her mum was. Her mum who she’ll never see again.

Ryan gets drawn back to his questioning of how people can do this. He understands circumstances and he understands why it might need to be done. He just can’t put himself in the parents shoes and he knows it’s because of his own past. He knows how it feels for a parent to leave. Ryan had asked himself these questions a lot when he first moved in with his gran. He was loved, but why couldn’t his dad love him?

“Hi, sorry we took so long. Ran into some trouble.” The Doctor says bursting through the door. Ryan picks up Annie and holds her in his lap so that the Doctor wouldn’t trip over her or God forbid step on her.

“She had to sample every flavour of baby food. We almost got kicked out.” Yaz rolls her eyes so hard it was almost audible. 

“I would  _ not _ recommend the chicken and rice casserole.” The Doctor shudders, dumping a few packets of nappies on the floor long with some clothes. Yaz carries the bags of food in the direction of the kitchen.

“By the way, she speaks baby.” She says as she passes Ryan sitting comfortably on the floor.

“Care to explain?” Graham asks, catching on.

“I understand everything she says.” The Doctor says pointing at her new housemate.

“Sweet.” Ryan gets up from the floor and takes Annie with him. “Should make this simple then.” 

“Don’t jinx it son.” Graham chuckles.

“You lot should get to sleep. I can look after her, I don’t need it.”

“No.” Ryan says a little too loudly when the Doctor reaches out her arms. 

The Doctor looks at him with great concern, trying to decode whatever had caused him to act like that. Why had he suddenly got so defensive? Why did she have to care? Why _did_ he care? There was something about looking after her for an hour and a bit that made Ryan feel like he had a solution to all his questioning.

“I need…” Ryan starts but he lowers his voice so that only the Doctor could hear. “I need to prove I’m not like him.” He confides. 

Ryan avoids the Doctor’s attempts to make eye contact. He didn’t want her pity or her sympathy; he just wanted to prove that he could do it. He can be good. He is not his dad. The Doctor’s hand sits on his shoulder and it makes him drop the facade. There was no point hiding from her. That was the only annoying thing about travelling with the Doctor; the more time they spent with her the more she figured out their emotional tells.

“I’ll be around if you need me.” She says before starting to walk away.

“Wait, Doctor, we don’t have a cot.” Ryan tells her.

“Oh! That’s not a problem, just make a square with pillows and put her in the middle of it.”

“How do you know so much about children?” Graham asks. 

The Doctor makes one of her weird expressive faces. Yaz was better at decoding them than he was but Ryan recons she’s either figuring out a lie or creating a way to twist the truth. 

“Children are important. They have imagination and hope and intrigue that most adults forget. I think we should help preserve that for as long as possible.” She smiles softly. 

Ryan says goodnight to Graham when the Doctor disappears and heads to bed. Thankfully, Yaz was one step ahead of him and had left a baby grow on the end of his bed along with some pillows and a blanket. Perhaps the Doctor had the power of hindsight as well and knew that he would want to look after her tonight. Or maybe it was the TARDIS listening in to their conversation. Ryan still can’t understand the overwhelming need to provide for this baby he’s only just met. She was sweet, hopeful like the Doctor said. Ryan changes her into the fresh clothes, giving in to the impulse to speak aloud every thought he had. It made Annie giggle while she stared right into Ryan’s soul. He sets her down in the rather cozy looking square but she doesn’t drift off to sleep like he expects her too. 

“Time to sleep now.” Ryan tries to explain. “Sleep.” He puts his hands together and rests his head on them. All Annie did was give him a toothless smile. However, she wasn’t moving energetically, which was a good sign.

He gets into his own bed, deciding that it was safe to assume she would fall asleep soon. Laying there, Ryan lets his mind slip into dreaming about what life would have been like if he didn’t only have Graham left. Would his parent’s marriage have survived? Would he be a completely different person? Would he have ever met the Doctor? He doesn’t know. The dream is blurred and images fade. Ryan doesn’t define himself with his family life. He is not broken and he was raised by the most amazing woman. He was only thinking about this because of the turn of events in the day, that’s all. It was getting to him more than he thought it would. Ryan’s dream turns around a corner and into a totally different topic based on recent adventures. Witches, aliens, babies crying, sonic mines.

Babies crying.

Ryan’s eyes snap open. The child laying on the floor was crying desperately. “What do you need?” Ryan asks as if she had the ability to tell him. Ryan being Ryan automatically dreads that she’s sick or ill.

“It’s okay. She’s just wants attention.” The Doctor walks in obviously having heard the racket. “Your attention specifically. She likes you so much it’s created a bit of a problem.” 

“I was too busy thinking she was cute to remember I’m only nineteen and she needs proper-.”

“Ryan, it’s alright.” The Doctor reassures him, stopping his panicked rambling. Ryan watches her simply place her finger on Annie’s lips and she stops wailing immediately. She picks her up to snuggle her and Annie coos.

“How’d you do that?” Ryan asks, sitting back down on his bed. The Doctor sits down next to him. 

“I’ll explain it tomorrow, you go back to your fat nap that’s actually sleep.”

“I don’t think I’m tired now.”

The two of them sit quietly admiring the third. Ryan had let his excitement make him get ahead of himself. Annie wasn’t a play toy, she was a human being that needed proper care. Care that really only the Doctor had enough experience with to deliver.

“You’re not him Ryan. I don’t want you to worry about stuff like that.” The Doctor looks at him again with that honest glint in her eyes. “You want kids someday right?”

“One day, yeah.” 

“You’ll be a brilliant father. You’re too young to be stressing about being a good dad or not at your age.” Annie gurgles. “And she agrees with me.”

“I won’t be able to run around with them or teach them how to ride a bike. Stuff like that.” Ryan says, referring to his dyspraxia.

“I’ll teach you how to ride a bike so you can teach your children.” The Doctor offers.

“Do you even know how to ride a bike?”

“No idea!” The Doctor exclaims excitedly. “But we can learn together. If you like?”

“Maybe when all this has blown over.” 

“I’ll look after her when you lot need sleep. She should probably be being sleep trained at this point anyway.”

“Thanks, Doctor.” Ryan expresses his gratitude for their little chat and ignores how the Doctor knows when the time to start sleep training is. Ryan wasn’t dumb. The Doctor had clearly had children, however long ago it was. But it was not his place to ask nor to tell anyone else. He doesn't know how many or how much time the Doctor had had with them but he knows she loved them. That was clear.

“It’s okay. It’s cool, chill, lit, spiffing-”

“Stop listing synonyms for okay.”

“I’m so glad you said that, I was running out of words.” The Doctor sighs with relief. She gets up and heads for the door. “We can agree on a schedule for her tomorrow. Do us all good.”

“Doctor.” Ryan calls after her. She stops and turns around. “Don’t tell Graham or Yaz. About what I said about my dad.” 

“You know I won’t.” She shrugs.

“I’m serious. You tell Yaz everything.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The Doctor frowns as if it were an insult.

“Nothing, you’re just…” Ryan pauses. He has to choose this word carefully. “close.”

“I won’t tell them anything.” She reiterated. The Doctor looked like she had another question on the tip of her tongue but she was using all her might to prevent herself from pushing out the words.

The Doctor leaves anyway without saying anything else. She left Ryan with nothing but a kind smile and an empty room to catch up on his sleep in.


	3. Thirteen

The Doctor continues tinkering with a bit of technology she found a couple of years ago that she had forgotten about until now. She was making a mobile to help Annie sleep. Mobiles were cool. She wished she could have one. Well, she could if she wanted to, no one else would ever see it. This particular one had a mixture of metal animals and aliens being held up at different heights by string. She didn’t want to discriminate and only include animals from Earth. Making it also kept her occupied and she liked being hands on when she was alone. It was peaceful. Tranquil. Atoms being manipulated to fit with other atoms to create a whole new body of atoms. It was beautiful.

“What are you doing?” Yaz’s voice makes her jump out of her own skin and almost throw her screwdriver across the room. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to sneak up!” Yaz apologises.

The Doctor checks that Annie was still sleeping. She was. “It’s fine. I’m making a mobile for her.”

“That’s really sweet.” Yaz says. The Doctor wasn’t looking at her face but she could hear she was smiling. She feels Yaz’s hand brush against her back as she joined her at her work station. The Doctor froze momentarily. Why? She doesn’t know why. _Yaz, that’s why._ No, it’s just being touched. _Yaz._ No. _Yaz_. No! “Are you okay?”

“Hm?” The Doctor says as she gets pulled out of the wrestling match with her thoughts.

“It was like you were on another planet for a second.”

The Doctor smiles. “No, just thinking.”

“About what?”

Thankfully, Annie chooses this moment to stirr and wake up. Yaz and the Doctor both hold their breath to see if she would settle again but she didn’t.

 _“I’m hungry. I’m hungry!”_ Annie calls.

“What’s she saying?” Yaz asks and the Doctor is reminded that it just sounds like crying to her.

“She needs food.”

“I’ll go and get some.”

“Can you bring Graham and Ryan here if you see them please? I’ll explain when everyone’s here.” The Doctor calls after her.

And with a nod, Yaz leaves, brushing against the Doctor’s side as she goes. The Doctor takes a second to stop any inconvenient thoughts from spreading and picks Annie up. She liked how children smelt more than anything. Fresh, new, almost clinical in some cases. Of course dirty nappies spoilt it but the Doctor recons she’s got a bit of time until she has to deal with that. The Doctor lifts up her metal creation with her spare hand and makes it spin a little. As it turns, a soft humming comes from the solid top and the metal animals chimed against each other as they find their places.

“What do you think about this then, kiddo? Like it?”

 _“Pretty.”_ Annie answers.

The Doctor watches her smile grow and her eyes fill with the wonder that she strives to set in the heart of every living being. If the Doctor was going to leave any impact on this child, she’s so glad it’s that.

“Graham and Ryan are just coming. I got a jar, one of the tiny spoons and the bib you choose but we don’t have a chair.” Yaz says, disturbing the Doctor’s daydream of Annie’s future.

“It’s fine. You feed her and I’ll hold her on my lap.” The Doctor sits straight onto the floor and places Annie in the gap between her crossed legs so she wouldn’t be able to wriggle away. She puts the protective bib around her neck and then notices Yaz was cautious to sit down.

“What?” The Doctor asks looking up at her.

“Nothing.” She sits down opposite her.

“It’s obviously not nothing.”

“It’s just…” Yaz struggles to find the right words. She was thinking really hard about what she was going to say next. “Babies freak me out.”

“Why?”

“They’re too small and not human-like yet.”

“I’m not human, do I freak you-” Yaz kinks an eyebrow. “actually don’t answer that. Hold out your hand for her.” The Doctor suggests.

“Doc-”

“Do it.” The Doctor reaches for Yaz’s wrist and pulls her hand forward gently as to not scare her away but to cancel out her protest.

As the Doctor expected, Yaz’s hand relaxed with her palm up and Annie reached out and wrapped her tiny fingers around Yaz’s thumb. She watches Yaz intently; her face slowly lighting up and a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth each time Annie’s small fist clenched and unclenched again. It made the Doctor grin stupidly and she didn’t even know she was doing it until Yaz looked up at her watching. That was the first time ever in this body that she was conscious about what her face was doing.

“Fine. You win.” Yaz says, drawing back the ownership of her thumb. “She’s cute.”

 _You’re cute._ Stop it.

Right when Yaz opens the jar of baby food and feeds Annie the first spoonful, the boys make their entrance.

“Morning campers.” Graham says in his usual fashion.

“Sup.” Ryan yawns.

“So,” the Doctor starts her sentence but is very aware that she can’t use her hands to speak because she needs to keep Annie sitting upright while she’s fed. “we all need a schedule for this to work. Agreed?” Everyone nods unanimously.

“Got any plans?” Ryan asks her.

“I don’t need much sleep so I’ll take her at night. As for the day, it’s obvious that myself and Ryan are the most comfortable with her.”

“That’s fair.” Graham says. Yaz looks a little offended but she didn’t witness Ryan with her when they got back last night. “Continue.”

“That’s it, that’s all I have. What do you want to do?” The Doctor opens the question to the floor.

“We could split it by job.”

“Or by person per day?”

“We’re never really separate though.” Yaz says, shooting the Doctor a look that she didn’t understand. She looks over to Ryan who had noticed and was giving her an I-Told-You-So look. ‘Close’ was what he had said. Sharing a look didn’t mean they were any closer than the rest of them, right?

“Doc will be able to tell us when she needs a nap or food or changing, won’t you?”

“I can do that.”

“Then let’s go on as normal, each of us pulling our weight.” Graham concludes.

“Is everyone okay with that?” The Doctor double checks. There isn’t much they could do anyway, being stuck in 1969, so sitting tight and getting through it seemed to be the best option. She could take them on more day trips since it was the start of summer and the sun was shining.

“I’m fine with that.”

“Me too.”

“Whatever the young ones want.”

“That’s sorted then.” The Doctor says pleased.

“Speaking of what the young ones want, I don’t think she wants anymore food.” Yaz lets her know.

“You good, Annie?” The Doctor checks. She tells her ‘yes’ and the Doctor hands Yaz a wet wipe to clean Annie’s chubby cheeks.

Graham and Ryan can’t help but stick around and watch Annie get cleaned up. There was something about this kid that infiltrated the hearts of everyone aboard this ship and it was mesmerizing.

“Do you still burp them at this age?” Ryan asks.

“Nah that’s only when they’re drinking milk.”

The Doctor shifts Annie onto her knee and continues to talk about how and when to feed babies. It was a mistake. A big mistake. Because she still wasn’t able to speak with her hands, she had started bouncing her knee without knowing. Everything that Yaz had just fed Annie was being projected back onto Yaz’s top.

“Oh, shit.” Ryan says, trying not to laugh as Yaz and the Doctor sit in shock.

“I knew it was going to happen at some point but...” Graham starts to giggle. Yaz gets up without a word and heads for the nearest bathroom.

“Take her for a second.” The Doctor offers up Annie for either of the two boys to take. Ryan does but he holds her at arms length incase of a repeat offence.

The Doctor, worried about Yaz who had only just started to warm to the idea of looking after the child, followed to see if she was okay. She didn’t know exactly what she was going to find, but a topless Yaz was not on the list. The Doctor feels herself blush and stare at the ground.

“Why aren’t you looking up?” Yaz says after a few seconds of the Doctor saying nothing herself.

“I think she got some on my boobs.”

“What?”

“Shoes. I said shoes. I think she got some on my shoes.” The Doctor scrambles. There was a pause.

“You said boobs.” Yaz calls her out.

“I said boobs.” She admits shamefully.

“Do you have anything not covered in vomit that I could wear?”

The Doctor opens up a wardrobe (which was bigger on the inside) and pulls out one of her very old shirts from a past lifetime. She hands it to Yaz who accepts it gratefully and puts it on, doing up the final button as she leaves, not saying anything more. The Doctor pushes her hands up her face and then through her hair. Why did she have to be like this? Why? Was Yaz mad at her now or just not in the mood for talking? She won’t call herself stupid but she sure as hell felt like what could be described as an idiot right now with her loose tongue and jittering body that can’t stay still. She makes her way to find the boys so that her absence wouldn’t be noted. Ryan was still looking after her but she was letting her roll around on the floor.

“I’ll change her.” The Doctor announces. No one really pays attention; they were all busy commenting on Yaz’s new shirt.

 _“I didn’t mean to.”_ Annie apologises as the Doctor takes her back into her arms.

“Not your fault kid, it was mine for bouncing you.” The Doctor walks back to her workroom where all the baby clothes were being stored.

 _“Why do you keep her if she makes you sad?”_ Annie asks.

“She doesn’t make me sad.” The Doctor sighs, looking over at Yaz hitting Ryan for making fun of her. “She makes me happy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realised I named the orphan Annie, I should've given her freckles and red hair and make her sing a reprise of Tomorrow lmao
> 
> Also these chapters get (mildly) better as it goes on stay with me on this


	4. Graham

Graham didn’t have children. He had never raised one from a baby to a grown person. Ryan was his, of course, but Ryan could leave him whenever he wanted although he very much doubted that. Today, after the vomit fiasco this morning, he seemed to have grown a smaller second shadow that followed him wherever he went. Yaz had made herself scarce, Ryan was trying to get her to like him again and the Doctor practically followed Yaz everywhere so all three of them were nowhere to be seen. Graham had been enjoying the quiet when he noticed he wasn’t alone. Now he read his book with little Annie on his knee, cuddled up to his stomach. He read out loud to her. He didn’t know if the history of the public bus interested her very much but it did for him.

Spending time with the Doctor, Ryan and Yaz made him feel old most of the time. They were full of energy and a lust for danger that Graham had grown tired of many years ago. So, spending time with Annie like this, who’s life had barely just begun, actually made him feel younger. There was so much she was yet to learn and absorb about the world and herself it gave Graham hope, even if she wasn’t from his far future and would in fact be entering her fifties in their time.

He had got into a pattern that ran like clockwork. Read a paragraph, make an interested face at Annie, finish the chapter, let Annie turn the page. Graham had read a paragraph that ended in a particularly interesting fact and had turned to make an extra interested facial expression but a sudden loud noise came from the direction of the kitchen, grabbing his attention. Silence. Then a full blown shouting match.

“They’ll stop in a moment.” Graham reassures Annie. However, the longer it goes on the louder the shouting voices get and Annie brings her balled up hands to her ears. “Maybe we should go and see what that’s about.” 

Annie nods and that settles it. Graham is pretty sure that he should go alone to check out the situation before bringing and impressionable mind into the mix, but he couldn’t leave a baby on her own in a spaceship. He carries her towards the noise and approaches cautiously.

It wasn’t like the Doctor to raise her voice or shout but one of the voices was definitely her. Ryan’s was undoubtedly there but only in small bursts but the Doctor and Yaz were creating most of the noise.  _ Trouble in paradise,  _ he thought.

“Ready?” He asks when they reach the kitchen door. Annie smiles and makes a sound that vaguely resembles the word ‘yes’.

Graham reaches for the door handle and opens it slowly to reveal the chaos. There was remnants of a fire that had been extinguished, that was the first thing he spotted. The next thing he saw was Ryan, who had noticed he had made an appearance, and who then looked down to the floor. Graham’s eyes followed and on the floor was Yaz, restraining the Doctor as if she were arresting her, still wearing the shirt that the Doctor had leant her. 

“Oi.” Graham says trying to grab their attention.

It doesn’t work and they continue arguing.

“Oi!” He shouts as loud as them. “Sorry.” He adds, directed at Annie who was still in his arms and had jolted a little.The scene freezes and everything goes quiet. “What’s going on here?”

The silence continues for another second but it does not last. All three of them start talking over each other in explanation. Graham rolls his eyes.

“One at a time!” He insists and silence falls again. “Ryan mate, what happened?” 

“She-”

“I didn’t do anything.” The Doctor interrupts to plead her case without even being given a charge yet.

“How much further do you want my knee going into your back?”

“Let him speak.” Graham stops the bickering.

Ryan gives it a second before starting to speak again. “Since we’re stuck here we thought we would cook something.”

“So why has Yaz gone all ‘karate kid’ on the Doc?” Graham says. Annie had started to get restless so he placed her down as he spoke.

“There was a fire.” Ryan says.

“I put the fire out but then she said that she wanted to eat the food but it was burnt and covered in foam so I said she shouldn’t and that’s when the pan went flying.” Yaz explains.

“So let me get this straight,” Graham says in disbelief of the scenario just described to him. “All of this is because of a bit of burnt food?”

There was a shift in the energy of the room. There was something going unsaid in between the three of them that Graham didn’t know about. Even Annie had sat herself up and was looking back and forth between everyone. Yaz realises that keeping the Doctor pinned down now was stupid and lets her get back up onto her feet. They stood separate from each other. That was a first.

“Some words were said.” Ryan mumbles.

“I insult species when I’m frustrated. It’s a bad habit, I don’t know how to get break it.” The Doctor shrugs.

“Try harder.” Yaz grumbles. 

There it was. The admittance of fault written all over the Doctor’s face and it took Yaz to make her realise it. She had realised she had done something to offend her and her face was communicating so many words.  _ ‘I’m sorry.’ _ and  _ ‘I’ll try for you’  _ being the main two Graham could spot. He throws his grandson a look that said  _ ‘They really don’t know, do they?’ _ and Ryan shakes his head. The Doctor’s eyes finally fall away from Yaz and flicker to Ryan.

“I’m sorry. I really am.” She apologises. 

“Not me you need to talk it out with.” Ryan says. Graham guesses that most of the fire was aimed at Yaz.

“We need to do something tomorrow.” Graham says. “If one day stuck up in here makes you snap at them, God knows what more will do.”

“You’re right.” The Doctor says. Annie makes some noises long enough that it could have been a sentence. “Alright, chill out.” The Doctor responds.

More silence. More awkward shuffling. Graham had no idea as to who was going to speak next but it wasn’t going to be him. He wasn’t part of it; although he will still have to live with it. 

“The beach.” The Doctor speaks up.

“What?” Yaz asks, obviously thinking of something more important that she can’t catch on to what the Doctor was suggesting.

“Let’s go to the beach.” The Doctor repeats more cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood. 

“We’re in London and you said she can’t travel.” Graham reminds her.

“I said she can’t travel  _ in time _ .”

“Then why have we been mulling around here all day?” Ryan asks, bemused.

“I thought it would be fun to be domestic for once. Give her a normal life.” She points at Annie, now playing with the aglet on Ryan’s shoe laces. 

“Arguments don’t really help that.” 

“I know Graham. I think I’ve learnt my lesson.”

“Has anyone told you that you have a really chaotic energy?” Ryan asks.

“Not those specific words but yes.” The Doctor smiles as if she was almost proud of herself for it. Could be worse, Graham thought, she could be completely boring with no sense of adventure. 

“Alright, no more letting a silence fall over us.” Graham says. He couldn’t stand the tension it caused. He was an old man, no matter how young at heart liked to consider himself to be.

“Hashtag triggered.” The Doctor mutters under her breath.

“What?” All of them say, having her comment.

“Nothing.” 

“So, what beach are we going to go to?” Yaz asks, starting to become more optimistic. 

“Oh,” The Doctor grins widely and Graham is reminded as to why he decided to stay on. The Doctor brought hope and excitement into his life. “I know exactly the place.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I Did Not Proof Read This: The Musical and if I'm honest this whole thing is just a set up for me to shout out the place I live lmao but I p r o m i s e the plot actually moves on next chapter


	5. Yaz

“Brighton! London by the sea! The LGBT capital of England! Home of the seagulls!” The Doctor announces the location she had kept so secret for the latter half of yesterday as she steps out of the TARDIS and into the sun.

Yaz is glad she had put on her sunglasses before stepping out. It was roasting hot and Graham and Ryan were having to scramble to get theirs off of their heads and over their eyes. Luckily, Ryan had had the sense to put an adorable tiny hat on Annie and convince them all to put suncream on. He was very cautious like that. He knew how to look after himself, which Yaz always thought out of the four of them she was the best at. 

“Hold on, isn’t Brighton a stone beach.” Graham scratches his head.

“It is.” The Doctor says and her grin falls to a smile. “Is there a problem.”

“No. No, I just thought it would be more fun for Annie to make sandcastles and stuff.” 

“Sand is just broken down rocks.” The Doctor pulls out her sonic. “If only we had a device that would speed up the process.”

Her snarky attitude forces a smile onto Yaz’s lips. She couldn’t stay mad at the Doctor for what she had said yesterday after she realised how hurtful her words were. Life, especially human life, was too short to hold grudges. 

“Right, let’s get a shift on then.” The Doctor starts to walk away but Ryan asks her a question.

“Can we go on the pier?” Ryan asks.

“You hate piers, you said they make you feel dizzy.” Graham interjects. 

“Yeah but she likes the bright and colourful lights.”

“Doesn’t one of them burn down?” Yaz recalls. She doesn’t want to be on it when it does.

“Yeah but not for a few more years. C’mon!”

The Doctor runs off before any of them could say anything else. They walk along with the road and towering white buildings to their right and the beach and open ocean to their left. Anyone that walked past them would think that they were on a secret walking history tour. The secrecy because the Doctor was describing things that haven’t happened yet mixed with events that had. The Mods and Rockers clash on the beach in 1964 jumping to ABBA winning Eurovision in 1974 here, the IRA bombing that hotel in 1984 there. Every time the Doctor reminded herself of something new she had to calm herself down and remember that she can’t be overheard.

The walk to the pier wasn’t that long, but it felt longer than it was because Annie kept getting thrown around. Holding her to transport her was fine, but in the heat and while walking meant that arms got tired and the responsibility had to be passed on sooner than desired.

“Tickets please.” The man with a horseshoe mustache and silk shirt asks. The Doctor whips out her psychic paper and they’re let in without question. 

Yaz, who was holding Annie just above her hip, was struck by the amount of games and how modern the pier seemed. Perhaps it was her ignorance of the late 60’s or the lack of attention she paid in history class but she didn’t expect it to be like this. All the sounds and the lights and how busy it was a for a summer Sunday early afternoon. Annie coos and gurgles drawing Yaz’s attention.

“Told you she’d like it.” Ryan says smugly. 

They collectively hang around on the pier for a good few hours. The Doctor had the same childlike excitement that Annie did. Ryan quickly realised he couldn’t look down and through the cracks without feeling a bit sick, so at one point Yaz had to do up his shoelace for him to save him the disorientating trouble. It was when the Doctor realised that there was a time limit to the sunshine that they finally moved on to the beach.

The sea was almost the same green that was in the Doctor’s eyes. The beach itself was heaving with people in all sorts of dress. As for the five of them they may have been considered overdressed, especially the Doctor in her coat she refused to remove. Somehow, they manage to find a nice secluded area of the pebble beach to settle; which also allowed the Doctor to discreetly speed up the erosion process of some rocks so that Annie had some sand to play with.

“No, don’t put that in your mouth!” Yaz says to stop Annie but she also stops the Doctor from doing the same thing, too. “Seriously?” She asks.

“Wanted to see if it tasted the same as natural sand.” 

Yaz accepts her answer, not expecting anything less since it came from the Doctor. 

“Maybe we should get some proper food, there was a chip shop back there.” Graham suggests.

“Can’t go wrong with chips.” The Doctor cheers.

“Come on son, I’ll need an extra pair of hands.” 

“We need money for chips.” Ryan points out. 

“Take this.” The Doctor says handing over her sonic. “Point it at an ATM and it’ll give you the option of how much you want to take out. Lose it and you’re in big trouble.” 

After the Doctor’s instruction and warning the boys go off in search of food. 

Yaz and the Doctor were left alone with the little girl in their care. There wasn’t a need to say anything to her so Yaz was comfortable with the silence, however the Doctor being the Doctor wasn’t. 

“Do you think we should’ve just given her to an orphanage?” The Doctor asks.

“You said yourself it would be hard on her.” Yaz reminds her of her own words. 

“I fear I’m making it hard for you lot when we finally have to say goodbye.”

“I’ll be fine.” 

“Ryan won’t.” 

“Ryan is tougher than you think.” 

“I think you’re not as tough as you think.”

“Excuse me?” 

Yaz takes her eyes off Annie and meets the Doctor’s gaze, which was already directed at her. Was she offended? Not really. But she did feel caught out.

“I think you forget you don’t have to put on a brave face around me.” The Doctor speaks quietly. She was distracted and Yaz could tell from her eyes. They wouldn’t stay still in her skull and kept jumping all over Yaz’s face. “You can be you around me.”

Yaz didn’t know what to say. She had an idea of what she wanted to  _ do  _ which in a way would be saying something but it was impossible. Stupid. Ridiculous. She didn’t even know if the Doctor would consent to it. Even if her face was getting closer. Very close. Until she stopped. It was Yaz’s choice as to what happened next. Suddenly everything made sense. Why the Doctor listened to her over everyone else, why she got that fuzzy feeling every time she brushed against her. Oh no. 

“Fish ‘n’ chips!” Graham’s voice pulls Yaz out of her dilemma, making the decision for her. She prayed that she wasn’t so obviously flustered. “And in proper newspaper! Here you go.”

Yaz wasn’t hungry anymore. At least not for food.

“I’ll have something later.”

“Are you sure?” The Doctor checks. Yaz nods but she can’t bring herself to look her in the eye. What was wrong with her?

The rest of the afternoon carries on normally. LIke a normal family day out. Ryan takes Annie for a paddle in the water. Graham, the Doctor and herself sit on edge watching, ready to jump in if Annie falls over or gets dropped. She didn’t, because Ryan was higher than their expectations, just like she had said. At one point Graham went to get ice creams leaving her and the Doctor alone again and that’s when she went to Ryan for a safety buffer. Who knows what she would have done if she hadn’t.

The sun set grows more and more prominent, leaving a rainbow reflected on the clouds in the horizon and as the majority of the beach leave for their homes and hotels, a group forms a few meters away from them. Some were crying, some had sore eyes, and the majority were men, holding various sizes of candles and images of the same face. 

“Fam, what’s the date today?” The Doctor asks.

Yaz checks her phone, which the Doctor had set to synchronize to whatever time zone they were in, and give her the answer. “June 22nd.” 

“Oh.” The Doctor’s voice is filled with a sense of grief and respect. “That makes sense then.” She says with her eyes glued on the still growing group of friends. 

“What does?” Ryan asks.

“Judy Garland died this morning.” 

As if on cue, the group of men and women in the still growing crowd play a rendition of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ and start to sing along through their sobs. 

“I remember.” Graham adds.

“And you remember what happens next?” 

“I know we’re young but can someone fill us in please?” Yaz asks. The Doctor looks around skeptically, to make sure that no one would over heard the story of their near future.

“In five days Judy Garland’s funeral takes place in New York. 20,000 odd people line up to pay respects and afterwards some go to the gay bar, the Stonewall Inn.” The Doctor pauses and shoots a look at Yaz. She was either expecting her to realise what happens or she was about to say something that could be insulting. “The police raid the bar at a peak time, which was against their agreement with the owners, and everyone’s so filled with grief and fed up with the police’s prejudice that the Stonewall riots happen. They said ‘enough with this’ and the gay liberation begins.”

“Fuck the police.” Ryan says. “No offence.” He quickly adds, seeing the expression on Yaz’s face.

“I wouldn’t say that too loudly, son.” Graham says in a hushed voice and points over his shoulder. 

Making their way down the beach were three bulky uniformed officers. They weren’t just having a stroll before going on patrol, they were there with a purpose. Yaz could tell by the way they were walking. But what was their purpose? The only people left on this area of the beach were themselves and those paying respects to their icon.

“I thought you said the riots start in New York.” Ryan says.

“They do.”

“Then why are they looking like they’re going to arrest someone.” 

“Yaz,” The Doctor turns her attention to solely her. “do you have your badge on you?

“No.” She says as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. When she signed up to travel in time and space, bringing her work credentials wasn’t exactly on top of her ‘things to pack’ list.

“Doc, he’s getting his cuffs out.” Graham warns. “They’re mourning, he can’t do that, can he?”

“Right, time to do something then.” The Doctor says with determination, starting to walk away. 

“Do what?” Yaz hisses after her.

“I’ll know by the time I get there!”

“Go with her.” Graham pleads. “She listens to you.” 

Knowing that he’s right, Yaz does what Graham wants. 

“Don’t let her see this. In case it gets ugly.” Yaz tells them, referring to Annie. She and the Doctor were going to defend these people to leave them in peace. Defend them so that they can fight for their rights and fight for the kids like Annie to be who they are without judgement. 

Yaz speeds up her face when she sees the Doctor jump in front of the officers just before they reach the group. She shows them her psychic paper.

“Not today.” The Doctor  says. 

“Ma’am, we’ve been instructed-”

“And I revoke it.” The Doctor says with a cold voice, completely different to how she addressed Yaz earlier. “Completely.” 

The officers share looks and Yaz thinks the Doctor might be in the firing line for arrest for a moment. However, the three burly men turn away and disappear into the night.

“I can’t believe that worked.” The Doctor mutters to Yaz, acknowledging her for the first time since she arrived at her side. “Thought it would take more than six words but here we are.” She grins. 

“Hey. Thank you.” One of the men at the back of the group closest to them addresses them. “For getting rid of them.” 

“You’re paying respects. That shouldn’t be interrupted.” The Doctor says. Yaz instinctively wraps her fingers around the Doctor’s and it felt right. But it also felt different now that the puzzle pieces had clicked together in her head. 

“How long have you two been partners?” The man asks. 

“What?”

“Sorry?”

“We aren’t together.” 

The Doctor holds Yaz’s hand tighter. She was signalling to Yaz that she was getting uncomfortable with this conversation. 

“I’ll let you work that out in your own time.” He smiles knowingly. Yaz can’t believe his cheek. “But thank you again. We all appreciate it.” 

Yaz can’t really hear anything else but her heart pounding and the waves crashing against the shoreline. For the second time today she feels completely called out but this time from a stranger. 

“Yaz, we can ignore it all if it makes you uncomfortable.” The Doctor offers. 

"Yaz considered it. It wouldn’t be hard to bury something that was only just uncovered, would it? 

“Ignore what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live in the gay capital of england and yet I still can't get a girlfriend, what's up with that 
> 
> also this is my favourite performance of somewhere over the rainbow, Judy leaves me s h o o k each time https://youtu.be/ss49euDqwHA


	6. Ryan

Ryan held Annie so that she was facing over his shoulder, keeping her eyes away from the situation that might evolve, like Yaz said to. Something like this could taint the day altogether and it had been so much fun. The pier. The food. The splashing in the sea.  _ Yeah _ , Ryan thought,  _ I’ll be a good dad. _ Right now though, the Doctor was impersonating a police officer and Ryan was holding his breath that she wouldn’t get caught because her getting arrested was something they did not need right now. 

“Did you see them?” Graham asks.

“When?”

“When we came back with the chips.” 

Ryan thinks back. There wasn’t anything he spotted that was out of the ordinary. Obviously, personal space was lacking and there were some hushed whispers but that was it.

“Still nothing?”

“Nothing.”

“They were going to kiss.”

“Bullshit.” Ryan’s head whips round so fast he thinks he might have snapped it for a moment. He and his granddad had a small bet going on over who would be the first to spot them together in a romantic way. If what Graham was saying was true he would’ve been down £20.

“Oi, language.” Graham reminds him of the impressionable mind right at his side.

“They’re too slow to come to any proper realisation.” 

They keep watching the scene in front of them. The Doctor seemed to have diffused it without any help from Yaz but… hang on. Were they holding hands? No, they wouldn’t be that open about it. That was a friend hand hold, it had to be. Surely they wouldn’t think they were a safe distance away from them for him and Graham not to see. 

“You were saying.” Graham smirks.

“Shut up. They’re coming back.”

Ryan watches them walk back to them. Neither of them were smiling and their hands were only hanging near each other, brushing knuckles. Not holding each other. 

“They’re not-”

“I thought you said shut up.”

Ryan checks on Annie and turns her around again so that she can see the Doctor and Yaz coming back unharmed. A little smiles grew on her face when she saw them getting closer. He swears he can see some teeth coming through and swears that she should be eating solid foods instead of the puree stuff Yaz and the Doctor had been feeding her. Oh well, the Doctor knew more about looking after children than the three of them combined did. 

“All sorted.” The Doctor announces when they’re in earshot. She was trying to forget something. Ryan was about to ask if she was okay but she opened her mouth again to speak before he could. “We should probably get going.”

“Lead the way.” Yaz says. She fell back and let Graham take the spot next to the Doctor leaving Ryan to speculate about what words were exchanged between them.

The Doctor still talked and rambled about more historical events. Brighton had so much history, Ryan could barely take any in. He was too preoccupied keeping Annie from hitting the pavement and wanting to know what was running around in Yaz’s head. He had never seen her like this before. She was always certain and headstrong but now she was retreating into herself. 

“What’s happened?” Ryan quietly asks. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You shouldn’t lie in front of children, it teaches them it’s okay to do.” Ryan says, pulling on all of his sarcasm skills. 

“Please don’t.” Yaz pleads with him to leave it.

“Fine. I’ll just ask her.”

“No, don’t!” Yaz puts her arm across his torso to stop him from running up to the Doctor. She checks to see if her slightly raised voice had drawn any attention and continues. “I don’t even know what it is so don’t try and get me to explain it.”

Just then, Annie makes some noise, grabbing both their full attentions. 

“Do you know what it is?” Ryan asks her. Annie grins and nods. “Go on then.” He encourages her to communicate the best she could. 

Annie leans forward and presses her face against Ryan’s cheek, squishing her nose until her lips meet his skin. Ryan smirks at Yaz. An almost eleven month old child is smarter than she expected and could tell Ryan the situation without even being able to speak. Yaz looked humiliated and Ryan started to feel sorry for his friend.  

“I won’t say anything.” He assures her. 

“It didn’t happen anyway.” She shrugs.

“Are you sad about it?” Ryan asks. He only said it to be friendly but he could tell that it had rubbed Yaz the wrong way. “I’ll go back to not saying anything.”

They walk together in silence, Ryan giving all of his attention to Annie and only checking over to Yaz when he was certain she wasn’t looking. Was it a fling? Was it a crush? Was she in love? He didn’t know. And it didn’t look like she was going to know any time soon.

They get back to the TARDIS. Graham takes in the scenery one last time before going in/ He does that a lot. Ryan thinks it’s because he’s a cancer survivor and he relishes each day that gets given to him. Yaz disappears quickly, probably scared that everyone else would be faster and leave her alone with the Doctor. Ryan passes Annie over to the Doctor for her nightly duties. It was still only early evening but the team seem to have been separated. Ryan could chill out with the Doctor is he wanted but she was being as aloof as Yaz was and probably wanted to be alone too. 

“Did you enjoy the beach, small human?” The Doctor asks. Annie tries to talk. “Well, if someone needs help it’s good to do it. You can’t go through life thinking only of yourself. ”

“That’s deep.” 

“No such thing as starting teaching too young.” The Doctor smiles. In fact they both smile. Children are hard work but from time to time, they remind you why they're worth it.

“Ryan, did Yaz tell you anything?” About today?” The Doctor asks out of nowhere.

“No.” Ryan lies. Well, partially lies. Yaz hadn’t told him anything but he had guessed with help from Annie. He could easily ask a follow up question. ‘ _ Should she have? _ ’, or ‘ _ is there something wrong? _ ’ but he thought it best to leave it. He starts walking in the direction of his room but the Doctor surprisingly keeps talking against Ryan’s expectations.

“How do I win her?” She asks.

Ryan turns back around and sees the Doctor standing there, looking so alone, allowing Annie to roll around on the floor while she waited for an answer. 

“She’s not a prize to be kept.” Ryan replies. He could almost feel his Gran smiling proudly at his response. 

“You know what I meant.”

“And I don’t know the answer.” Ryan snaps back. He has no idea how to get women to date him let alone how to get Yaz to date the Doctor. “I think if you don’t know her well enough to do it then you don’t deserve her.” 

“You’re accepting this without batting an eyelid.” The Doctor notes. 

“It’s been dead obvious for weeks mate.” 

“How come?” The Doctor asks, looking a little offended.

“You think about that.” Ryan says, leaving the Doctor to answer her own question as he walks away.

Ryan didn’t make it to his room. Before he got there, a hand tugged him into Yaz’s room. Yaz stood there with a more intense expression on her face than moments before.

“What now?” He grumbles under his breath. He just wants a shower and to go to bed. 

“I need to tell you something.” Yaz says hurriedly. 

“Tell me what?”

“I’m bisexual.”

“No shit Sherlock.” 

Yaz frowns. “I’m pretty sure you’re not meant to assume people’s sexuality.” 

“I didn’t. I just know you’re into _her_.” Ryan points over his shoulder in the direction of the main control room.

“What do I do about it?” Yaz pleads. Ryan wonders how many more people would ask him a question like that today.

“How should I know?” He shrugs. There was a glint in Yaz’s eye that made him regret his bluntness. Ryan chooses to change his approach and makes himself go soft. “Look, Yaz, be honest to you. That’s all you can do for now. This isn’t exactly the most normal of situations for you to-”

“Don’t say it out loud.” Yaz cuts in. “Please, it makes it too real.” 

“Maybe saying it would help?”

“She’s a time lord! She’s got…” Yaz waves her hands over her chest. 

“Boobies?”

“Two hearts.” Yaz says, unamused. She flops herself down on her bed and rubs her hands over her face in defeat. 

“I’m going to have a shower. Get the sea salt off of me.” Ryan announces. “If you need me you know where I am.” He offers his good friend a lifeline. 

“I can’t believe Annie exposed me like that.” Ryan hears Yaz shout right as he opens the door.

“I do!” He cheers. 

He has known Annie for about three days, but he is proud of her personality that is slowly emerging through their time together. She was playful, cheeky, full of life and joy and hope. Almost like she didn’t realise she had been abandoned. Ryan wasn’t going to give up on her until he was forced to by the Doctor; and the Doctor had enough on her plate at the moment to put her full focus on Annie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let Gay Panic: The Non-Proofread Musical commence


	7. Thirteen

The Doctor had put Annie to bed an hour ago. For the past hour Annie had been screaming for no good reason. Well, no good reason that the Doctor could work out. Annie wasn’t even trying to tell her, she didn’t have time between her shuddering intakes of breath. Of all the nights for this to happen it had to be the one where the Doctor was starting to feel the strain. For the first time in a long time she was tired and all she wanted to do was go to bed herself.  On top of her fatigue (that she is trying harder than anything to ignore) it hurt her to hear a child hurt and no know how to fix it. 

“Tell me what’s wrong!” The Doctor begs Annie, picking her up again to see if it will work this time. 

Still nothing. Only screaming and crying.

“Come on, please tell me something I can use.” 

The Doctor closes her eyes to give herself some peace while she rocked. The crying became white noise and the Doctor had to keep moving or she would’ve fallen asleep there and then. She wasn’t used to this happening at all. It felt strange yet needed but it couldn’t happen. Not now. Not when a child needs her help. 

An even more pained scream snaps her out of her moment of stolen relaxation and decides it’s time to act like a proper doctor. She fetches her stethoscope from the pocket of her coat that was crumpled on the floor and does a general examination. Nothing. Absolutely nothing out of sync. The Doctor was stumped and she did not like not knowing. She did not like it at all.

She can’t help but give in to the sweet release of closing her eyes again. She needs to do this more often, like detoxing but with less effort. Because of the helpless screeching she can only feel Yaz lightly draping her arm over her shoulders to know she was there. Her face was close again. Eyes filled with that same uncertainty they were on the beach but she was smiling brightly this time, so much so that it hurt the Doctor to look at. 

The Doctor’s eyes snap open. It was a dream, a simple projection of a wish onto her eyelids, of course it would be. She would be so lucky for it to be real. But that image of her face. Her lips. Her teeth. 

Teeth.

Teeth!

The Doctor grabs a small torch from a nearby shelf. It was lucky that Annie’s mouth was, and had been, open for ages because it made it easier to check her gums. Her spare hand felt her cheek, specifically around her jaw, for any extra heat. Sure enough her gums were red sore and looked painful, as if a monster was trying to push through rather than simply teeth. The Doctor had finally found the source and knew exactly how to treat it. Again, she rummages in her coat pockets. She swears she left it here somewhere at some point. Ah! There it was. The small white pot filled with a cooling gel for tooth and gum ache. She had had it in her possession ever since she went to an enthusiastic market stall and had something sharp shoved into her mouth. She still doesn't know to this day what kind of fruit it was.

“Let me do this, I promise it will make it better.” The Doctor says, scooping some of the gel onto her finger. 

Gently, starting from the back, the Doctor rubs the mixture over Annie’s aching gums. The crying subsides the more she applies. Annie still sniffles and a few more tears fall until she finally rubs her eyes dry and stops. The Doctor picks her up again and hugs her.

“Better now?” The Doctor asks.

_ “Where’s my mum?” _

Both the Doctor’s hearts sank to her stomach. She was wondering how long they would get away with having her here without that question cropping up, however here it was. The Doctor thought it best not to lie to her; it might create false hope, which leads to disappointment.

“I don’t know little one.” The Doctor tries to comfort her with words. “I’ll find her. Or your dad.” She pauses.  _ Would _ she be able to find them? “Someone to look after you at least.”

_ “I want my mum.” _

“I know you do.” The Doctor sighs. “I still want mine sometimes, too.”

Now that the world has gone quiet and the Doctor was essentially holding a heater against her chest, the tiredness was really starting to catch up with her. She needed to sleep but Annie was up and needed attention. She wanted her mum. A female figure was enough to meet that, right? There was only one other of those on-board right now. 

Her feet find her way to Yaz’s room without her even having to think. She knew it was impossible in reality, but it was like her body had taken over from her brain and put her on autopilot. Yaz was asleep. Obviously. If the Doctor wasn’t about to lose all function she might have had the brains to think she was beautiful. She really wasn’t used to this and she was starting to not like it. Why hadn’t she stopped to have a nap sooner? Naps are good, why deny herself the pleasure until absolutely necessary? 

“Yaz.” The Doctor whispers. “Yaz.” She whispers louder when her friend doesn’t stir. “Yaz!” 

“It's not a crush I just-” Yaz shouts, startled. When she realises it’s just the Doctor standing in the doorway, she relaxes. “What’s going on?”

"Crush on who?" The Doctor asks.  _Please say me,_ the voice in side her head requests. She pushes it to the back. 

"No one." Yaz says, catching her breath from being pulled out of her sleep. "What's happened, it's the middle of the night."

“Can you watch Annie? I need to sleep.” The Doctor asks. 

Yaz slumps back into her sheets. “You are allowed to sleep at the same time as a child, you know.”

“We just had some teething problems.” The Doctor explains. She walks over and sits on the end of Yaz’s bed, keeping Annie on her knee. She lowers her voice. “She needs a mother figure to put her back to sleep.”

“I am not a mother figure! Why can’t you do it?”

“I’m literally going to collapse in a minute.” The Doctor mutters, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“What, why?” Yaz shoots up again, concerned at the Doctor's words. Her arm draped over the Doctor’s shoulders, just like before. 

“Am I dreaming again?”

“Huh?” Yaz’s hand rubs at the base of the Doctor’s neck, confirming to the Doctor that this can’t be real. It really can’t. She can feel it, but this isn’t real.

“I am, aren’t I. You’re not really here.” The Doctor insists.

“I am here.” Yaz tucks the Doctor’s hair behind her ear and smiles gently. “This is real.”

It was rude to stare but right now it didn’t feel rude. It felt safe. As long as the Doctor’s eyes were being held by Yaz she was safe. It was like there was an electrical current in between the pair of them, keeping them together. The Doctor doesn’t know if it was that that was making her feel fuzzy or her need to rest. So many words were going unsaid in this silence. However, if the Doctor was going to say something she wanted them to be the right words. Words that didn’t destroy the reality the whole group had been creating.

“Listen, about the beach-” The Doctor starts her sentence, but Yaz kisses her cheek, just below the top of her cheekbone. 

Oh. This was real. Yaz was real. This room was real. She was real, very real. Unfortunately, the shock of the quick action made her close her eyes for a split second, and now she can’t open them again. They were far too heavy and she had no energy left to even try to open them. Her body was becoming overwhelmed by gravity and she had no intention of fighting it. Annie was safe with Yaz now.

She was going.

_ “Nice job.”  _ Annie says.

Going.

“I got that idea from you.” Yaz yawns. She feels guilty for waking her up.

The Doctor’s head hits a pillow. She wasn’t in her bed or on Grace’s comfy sofa but at least it was in her TARDIS with the people who cared about her. With Yaz.

Gone. 


	8. Graham

“Where are they?” Graham asks, polishing off his last slice of toast.

“Dunno.” Ryan shrugs. “It’s still early.”

“It’s half 10.” 

“And?” 

Graham rolls his eyes. Sometimes he wonders if Ryan knows what a days hard work is, but he has to stop and remind himself that he does, it just isn’t the type of work he knows. 

“Tell you what mate,when you’re done go and get Yaz.” 

“I’ll go now if you go and get the Doctor.” He gets up, taking his bowl of cereal with him. Graham hadn’t even agreed to it but he wasn’t going to protest. 

The Doctor was easier to find than Yaz anyway. Yaz kept herself to herself and she was neat; the Doctor however was forever leaving trails of her own mess and noise for people to follow. She likes to think that she’s hidden away from everyone else but she wasn’t. Graham noticed that about her a lot. The Doctor puts up the facade that she’s so alone in the universe so much so that she’s convinced herself of it, and has to make herself known yet invisible at the same time. Today she was so invisible that Graham couldn’t find her or Annie in her room. He changes course to join Ryan and, hopefully by now, Yaz.

“Found them ye-”

“Ssssh!” Ryan stops him from finishing his sentence.

“Oi, don’t shush me! Ever heard of respect your elders?”

“Come and tell me if I’m seeing this right.”

It’s then when Graham notices exactly where Ryan was standing; outside Yaz’s room with the door wide open. Graham gets more and more uncomfortable with every step. He didn’t want to watch a young girl sleep or God knows what else Ryan couldn’t stop staring at.

“Ryan, wha- oh my...”

Whatever he was expecting, it was not this. The image looked like it belonged in a children's book that depicted the perfect family. To the left was the Doctor, asleep for the first time in only she knows how long. To the right was Yaz, curled up facing the Doctor in her bed that now looks far too small. In between the pair of them slept Annie, all snuggled up to Yaz. The three of them were connected by one thing: the Doctor’s arm. Whether in her sleep or consciously done while she was awake, her arm had fallen across Annie’s legs and Yaz’s waist, like she had a duty of care over them and their lives were in that hand. 

“I don’t want to bet on them anymore.” Graham says without thinking. 

“Why? Because I’m the one that won?” Ryan whispers. 

“No, no.” Graham shakes his head. Simply seeing them like this made him feel guilty, even if it wasn’t explicitly romantic. He felt like he was intruding on something not meant for him and he wasn’t even in the room. “It just feels wrong.”

Ryan sighs. “I get you.” 

“We need to go before they wake up. It might be awkward enough.” Graham suggests, starting to smile at the thought of how the Doctor was going to ramble out of this one. Right as he says it, there’s some movement in front of them. “Now.” Graham tugs Ryan’s arm and they leave before they’re noticed.  

They take refuge in the kitchen. It was far away enough to not hear any conversations that weren’t meant for them. Ryan kept hypothesizing out loud, expecting Graham to play along but he wasn’t okay with playing those games. When they joked about it, they were simply just that. Now that the jokes were becoming reality it tugged at his heartstrings. Yaz and the Doctor, they were young, still fresh in their emotions, especially young Yasmin. Time passes, Ryan keeps making noise, Graham washes up to keep himself occupied. All three of them, the Doctor, Yaz and Annie, turn up at the same time, making no effort to hide that they were all together, but of course the two men acted like they didn’t know that. Annie was being held up by Yaz so that the Doctor could rub her eyes and wake herself up.

“Morning.” Graham says, trying to provoke some sort of conversation. 

“The rest of her teeth are coming through.” The Doctor says plainly, slumping into the seat she always takes. 

“How do you know?” Ryan asks. 

“The screaming.” Yaz answers.

“And how she stopped screaming for about three hours when I put some soothing gel on her gums.” The Doctor clarifies. “The one time I was tired as well.”

Graham clocks Yaz’s hand automatically going to rest on the Doctor’s shoulder but she stops herself and brings it back down to her side, acting as if she was brushing a stain off of her top. 

“Are you still tired now?” Graham asks. 

“Tiny bit, but Yaz helped when she woke up so I didn’t have to.”

Ah. So that explains the bed sharing. Graham takes it as a satisfactory explanation without thinking into it too much.

“She needs changing, I’ll be back in a second.” Yaz excuses herself. 

The Doctor watches her walk away before addressing the two of them. “I need to tell you something.”

Graham and Ryan freeze and lean over in her direction. It felt obvious to them but it must have been the smallest thing from the Doctor’s perspective. What was she going to tell them? Was she going to be frank with them and tell them everything? Was she having them on?

“Annie asked me where her mum was last night.” The Doctor says. Graham and Ryan instantly relax. “It was really sad.” 

“Her situation  _ is _ sad but hopefully she’ll find peace with it when she’s older.” Ryan says. Graham could hear the passion in his voice. 

“No, Ryan, we need to find her parents as soon as possible or at least one of them or someone who can properly, and I mean  _ properly _ , look after her. These past few days we’ve been deluded. Distracted. We can’t keep doing this.”

“What’s got into you?” Ryan asks after a brief pause. His passion has turned into offence. 

“Sense.” 

“No, I just think you don’t know how to love or get attached to anyone.” 

Ryan slams down a spoon Graham didn’t even realise he was holding and storms out, shaking his head. Graham’s attention turns to the Doctor. She looked like she’d just been slapped in the face but was trying to hide it by staring at the spoon. She was hiding it poorly. He can’t help but be angry at Ryan in this moment. The Doctor was right, they can’t look after the littl’n forever and suggesting she had a more normal family to look after her was how the Doc showed her love. But still, his words had hit a sore spot and her eyes said it all. Her ability to make them go a steel grey astounded him, but in this moment it frightened him. It only ever happened when she was angry, however she looked so calm.

“He’s wrong about you.” Graham says once the spoon settles. 

“I’m finding her parents.” The Doctor says with determination, her eyes finally leaving the spoon. “And she will be loved. Properly.”

"You know how to love Doctor. He's just an upset boy." 

"Do I?"

"That's a stupid question and you know it. You love the universe with all your heart. Hearts even." 

The Doctor smiles kindly. A ' _you don't know me, but thank you for trying_ ' smile before getting up to leave and Graham can only think one thing: If Ryan's words prevent their friends' happiness together from happening, he'll kill him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> at work I saw name places for 'Graham' 'Ryan' and 'Annie' all on the same table and let me tell you I was shook to the shitting core


	9. Yaz

Yaz helped Annie to her feet again. Since the Doctor and Ryan were at odds, it was hard to plan a day together, so Yaz took Annie as her responsibility and decided to encourage her enthusiasm to want to stand by herself. Yaz thought that if it went well, she might even start walking soon. However, something pulled at Yaz’s heartstrings when she thought about how a proper family are missing out on these key stages; not a group of people that call themselves ‘fam’.

The Doctor breaks Yaz and Annie’s cycle by striding in, flinging the door open and shut as she does.

“Found anything?” Yaz asks, standing up herself. She doesn’t know why she does it. Maybe because she doesn’t want Annie to hear that they’re finding a way to move her along.

“Nothing yet. I’ve tried everything she came with, the note, the blanket, the basket, everything. Next step would be to use her DNA but I don’t want to take blood from her.” The Doctor had one hand gripped on her hip and the other running through her hair aimlessly.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this stressed.” Yaz says. Once again her body was acting without permission from her brain because she was meant to think it. “Has Ryan still not said anything?”

The Doctor shakes her head. “Nope.”

“He’ll come around.”

“Might take some time.” The Doctor sighs.

“What exactly did he say to you?” Yaz asks softly, picking up on how Ryan’s words had altered her mood.

“Oh, you know.” She shoves her hands into her pockets and sways gently from left to right, not making eye contact. “That I don’t know how to love or get attached to anyone, no biggie.”

Yaz doesn’t know what to say. All she has is a strong compulsion to pull the woman in front of her close and tight. How dare Ryan say those words. How dare he accuse her of such heartlessness when all she has done since they’ve known her was be kind to everyone and everything. Not only that, but the Doctor’s soul was evidently damaged. Or at least it was evident to Yaz. Her feet step forward, her arms wrap around the Doctor and her chin rests on her shoulder. The Doctor doesn’t move at first, she even seemed a little shocked to be touched, but soon the Doctor’s hands leave her pockets and slowly reciprocate the action. The Doctor was warm, or at least she made Yaz feel warm. Warm with that familiar fuzzy feeling that was always there. There when she smiles at her, there when she hugs her, there when they accidentally end up waking up together. It was always there.

“Yaz.” The Doctor says after a while.

“Yeah?” Yaz answers without drawing back.

“We’re just friends. You know that right?”

Yaz makes an effort to wipe the disappointed look she knows is there from her face and pulls back to look at her. “I know.” The words hurt to say.

Silence surrounds them. The only hint at noise was Annie entertaining herself with some building blocks she found. The Doctor had said what she needed to say but she wasn’t leaving. She wasn’t looking or moving away, all she was doing was staring. Thinking. What was she thinking? Yaz wanted to know so desperately but the Doctor often kept things to herself, insisting that her thoughts were unimportant.

“We aren’t just friends though are we.” The Doctor states, contradicting herself with her own words.

Yaz gulps, choking down the knowledge that whatever she said next may make or break what happens next.

“No.”

The kiss was there and then it was gone. The Doctor’s swift decision left Yaz scared and ecstatic at the same time. She wanted her to kiss her again, right now in fact, but the Doctor wasn’t going to do it again herself if Yaz just kept standing here. The Doctor starts to remove her hands and Yaz moves to cup the Doctor’s cheek. She wasn't letting her get away that easy. Her heart was racing so fast she could hear the blood rushing to her head. Their lips meet again and Yaz swears she starts to melt more and more with each second that passed. She feels like she’s floating through time and lets the Doctor take lead with her lips. The lips has had been catching her eyes drifting to for the past few weeks or so. Yaz herself has no idea what she’s doing but the Doctor had thousands of years of life experience, she has to have kissed someone before now. The Doctor breaks away and Yaz gives herself a second before opening her eyes again. Stupid smiles spread across their faces. Yaz gives a silent laugh. Months and months of interactions and developing feelings had led up to this and in this moment it was worth the wait. 

Annie grips onto Yaz’s leg to pull herself up to stand with them. The Doctor notices her too and looks back up at Yaz beaming with pride. Yaz picks her up so that she could claim Annie’s progression as her own work.

“Give it a month and you’ll be running all over the place.” The Doctor says, tickling Annie’s neck until she lets out a hearty giggle. It makes Yaz think.

“You never gave me straight answer as to how you know so much about children when I asked.” Yaz lets the words spill out. The smile gently fades from the Doctor’s face and Yaz recognises the expression from the first time they met. “You have kids, don’t you.”

“Had.” The Doctor corrects her. “I had children. I was a parent, once upon a time.”

Yaz takes the Doctor’s hand in her own spare one. “It doesn’t mean you’re not a parent because your children aren’t around anymore. You’re still a mother.”

“I mean... father.” The Doctor corrects her again. Yaz was never not surprised when she was reminded that the Doctor has had multiple different bodies before. However, she liked this one all the same.

“I bet you were a good parent. I can imagine you on the school run and playing ballgames with your kids.”

“I did my best.” The Doctor smiled, her eyes lost in the past. Yaz thought she had lost her completely until she spoke again. “But I loved them more than anything and I think they knew that.”

“Can’t you go back and see them? Now that you have a different body, I mean. They wouldn't recognise you” Yaz suggests.

“That would be crossing my own timeline and that’s a big no no.” The Doctor sighs. Yaz kicks herself. The Doctor probably thought of doing that years ago. “Would you help me get a sample out of her?” She changes the subject.

Yaz agrees.

“I can help too.” Graham’s voice comes from the doorway, taking them all by surprise.

“How long have you been there?” Yaz asks, suddenly overcome with fear that there had been a personal intrusion. 

“Long enough.”

“How long though?” The Doctor asks for specifics.

“Since you started talking about your kids.”

“Thank God.” Yaz mumbles a bit too loudly.

“What do you mean?” Graham asks, the suspicion in his voice rising. The Doctor tries to hide her grin by giving all of her attention to Annie. All Yaz can think is that _she did that_. She caused the Doctor to not be able to stop smiling. “Did I miss something?”

“Nothing.” The Doctor and Yaz say at the same time.

“Right.” Graham says unconvinced. “So what sort of DNA sample do you need?”

“Mouth swab should work.”

“Like Yaz just swabbed your mouth?”

Yaz forgets to breathe during her own yawn and the Doctor shouts ‘What!’ before starting to ramble.

“You did see!” Yaz exclaims over the Doctor's voice, feeling a little bit betrayed that Graham didn't say when he was asked the first time.

“No. You two are just idiots that can’t hide your emotions.” Graham turns to speak to Yaz directly. “And you’re still holding her hand.”

Yaz starts to blush and loosens her hold but the Doctor only grips harder, not letting her go. It was sweet, really. How much she was communicating through a hand hold. Yaz felt safe. Trusted. Relaxed. Happy. And dare she say it:

Loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annie ships it
> 
> Also next chapter you're either going to love it or hate it and I for one can't wait to see how many of you will be pissed off whoops


	10. Ryan

Ryan had been pacing the library all day. He had said what he said but as time went on he was starting to regret it. He had been irrational. Unfair. Cruel. The Doctor didn’t deserve it. He thinks back to his conversation with her, the first night Annie was in their care, and how gently she approached the subject of his dad. Ryan also considers his hunch that the Doctor has been a parent in the past. It would be rude to ask her if he’s right but his comments gave him even more guilt knowing that it was a possibility. His nan didn't raise him to be like this; she would be ashamed.

He wasn’t expecting to be found but Yaz had managed to do it.

“Are you done sulking yet?” She asks.

“Ha. Funny.”

“Don’t deny it.”

Ryan huffs. “I just don’t get why she’s in such a rush to do it.”

“Annie’s becoming a toddler, Ryan. She’s going to need more and more attention the longer she’s here. She’s starting to walk too.”

“Really?” Ryan asks, his face lighting up at the knowledge.

“Yes and you would know if you’d been around today.” She says. Yaz probably didn’t mean to do it, but her words made him feel even worse. He protested Annie leaving and then missed out on a whole day with her.

“How’s the Doctor been?” Ryan asks.

“She’s okay. Working hard.” A small smile was begging the corners of Yaz’s mouth to let it through but she denied it. “She actually sent me to get you.”

“Why?”

“She’s hoping the DNA swab will tell us the names of the parents.” Yaz explains.

“But the mother’s already made it clear that she can’t look after her.” Ryan reminds her.

“The Doctor’s thinking more of the father.”

Fathers. Ryan forgets that most people have them. His had tried to make contact and had tried to make an effort recently, but like always the texts fade away and months go by before seeing him again.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Yaz checks.

“I’m fine. I just feel bad.”

“So which one is it, fine or bad?”

“What are you, a cop?” Yaz just stands there, arms folded. “Actually that doesn’t work when you’re actually police.”

Instead of scolding him like he expected, Yaz laughs at his mistake. There was something about her today that was different. What was it? There was something new, something awakened inside her. Ryan wasn’t doubting that the Doctor probably had a part to play in Yaz’s new mood.

“What about you, are you alright?” Ryan asks, digging for an explanation.

“I’m… yeah, I’m good. Tired from last night but good.”

“Doctor’s snoring keep you up?”

“No, it was Annie’s teeth- wait.” Ryan watches Yaz’s eyes grow wide and her mouth falls open. He can’t help but feel a little bit smug that he'd caught her off guard. “I never told you she slept in my bed. How do you know that?”

“When neither of you turned up we went looking and found you like that.”

“You didn’t say anything.” Yaz says with a hint of surprise, almost like she expected him to tease her about it, or wake them up.

“Didn’t want to spoil anything that might’ve come out of it. Which, from looking at you, I assume happened.”

“That obvious?” Yaz winces.

“Oh yeah. Come on, I know you want to get back to her.” Ryan hurries them along to face whatever news the Doctor was going to give them.

“If you apologise she’ll forgive you, you know that.” Yaz changes the subject as they start to walk. “But you did touch a sore patch.”

“I guessed that. I just lost my temper.”

“Literally all you need to say is that you didn’t mean it.”

“I will.”

They walk the rest of the way in silence. Comfortable silence, not the awkward silence that everyone dreads. Perhaps it was because Yaz was stuck in her own head, replaying a scene that Ryan didn’t want to ask about, or maybe it was because Yaz was the only one that hadn’t seen his outburst. Still, she had to pick up some of the pieces left from his low blow. Before he knows it they turn a corner and Yaz leaves his side to join the Doctor, who was positively glowing like the night they met. The Doctor’s eyes land on Ryan and she gives him a polite smile and nod.

“Doctor, I’m-”

“It’s okay, Ryan.” The Doctor cuts off his apology. “Really.”

“But, please, I want to prove to you that-”

“Ryan I don’t really want to talk about it.” The Doctor jumps in again.

Ryan, not wanting to piss her off more, makes the right decision to leave it. He may have come to terms with what he had said but the Doctor is probably still hurting.

“How long until we know?” He asks instead.

“About ten minutes.”

“Wyan!”

Annie’s voice was loud and clear. Ryan turns to see Graham slowly following Annie who was crawling into the room. She had said his name. No translation needed, she had said ‘Ryan’ and it makes his heart fill with warmth and love. She speeds up each time she looks up at him and by the time she reaches his feet, she makes herself stand up.

“Wow look at you!” Ryan praises her achievement by picking her up and giving her a big cuddle. “You’re so clever doing that all by yourself!”

“She says she’s missed you today.” The Doctor translates for him. “Oi, no we’re not!” She adds.

“What did she say?” Graham asks.

“She said me and Yaz are being gross and it’s unbearable.”

Ryan turns to look at them properly. They were looking quite… cozy, to say the least. They were always lacking personal space but it was never intentional like it was now, with Yaz’s arm over one of the Doctor’s shoulder’s and the Doctor’s arms around Yaz’s waist.

“It is a bit strange seeing it finally happening.” Ryan says.

“What do you mean ‘finally’?” The Doctor frowns.

“C’mon Doc, who are you fooling?” Graham comes to Ryan’s defense.

“He’s right.” Yaz tells the Doctor softly. “They knew before we did.”

Ryan shoots his granddad a look. Neither of them mention the bet they had going. That would be stepping right into it for the second time today and Ryan didn’t want to offend the Doctor more. When the Doctor is done making a confused face at Yaz, she speaks again.

“I guess I can see that now.” She nods.

“Basically everyone did.” Graham says.

“Alright, don’t push it.” Yaz smiles.

Annie makes some noise that sounds like a short sentence. Everyone looks to the Doctor to find out what she was saying.

“Well I’m not translating that, that’s private.”

Everyone in the room starts to giggle, even Annie. This is the feeling Ryan felt was missing from his life. They had had a squabble and were fragmented for today, sure, but right now in this precious moment they were a unit. A family. A weird little family with an old man, and old time travelling woman that used to be an old man with two hearts, a child that wasn’t theirs to keep and two old school mates.

Suddenly, the TARDIS bleeps and the Doctor rushes to get to the screen to see the results, Yaz still following closely at her heels. Her eyes scan the screen, her face falls slightly, she gets Yaz to check she was reading it right and Ryan gets worried. Was Annie’s father a bad man? Was he a criminal? An abuser? An enemy of the Doctor. An all round bad person? Or was he a good man? A leader? A friend of the Doctor? Historically important and that’s why Annie can’t leave this time period?

“Is everything alright Doc?” Graham asks.

“We have a name. For the father.” The Doctor says.

“Who is it?” Ryan asks as a follow up question.

The Doctor stands up straight, her face grey and her smile gone. Yaz looks at her, worried, and then back at the screen. The atmosphere in the room had changed so much in a matter of seconds and Ryan didn’t like it. The Doctor’s lips are sealed closed and her face tense; all muscles strained. She looked a little bit scary, adding to the tension. _Come on_ , Ryan thought, _it can’t be that bad_. The Doctor sighs.

“Ryan Sinclair.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: this plot twist came to me in a dream lmao, can't wait to see how this turns out


	11. Thirteen

The Doctor stares at the TARDIS screen.

_Paternal parent: Ryan Sinclair._

No. It couldn’t be. She gets Yaz to double, triple check, but she sees the words there too.

“Is everything alright Doc?” Graham asks.

“We have a name.” The Doctor says.

“Who is it?” Ryan asks as a follow up question.

The Doctor doesn’t know how to say it. Should she lie? No, Yaz had already seen the truth. This was happening. This can’t be avoided.

“Ryan Sinclair.” She says simply.

“What!?” Graham shouts. “No, no, that’s ridiculous. Impossible.”

The Doctor’s eyes don’t leave Ryan. Past the initial look of shock in his face, he knows it’s the truth. There was something in his eyes that told her the TARDIS wasn’t wrong and his silence backed it up. Graham keeps talking, mentioning possibilities that family doesn’t always mean blood, but the TARDIS was never wrong. They had been to late 1967 and early 1968 which makes the dates line up. In another life, she would start shouting at him, calling him a dumb and ignorant human, but now, in this form, she thinks it’s too unfair. He was a young boy, and if the Doctor remembers correctly, she was sweet and liked Ryan and gave the whole group a roof over their head while they were hunting extraterrestrial activity. This wasn’t a one night stand this was the result of  an inconveniently timed relationship.

“Ryan?” Yaz asks moving towards him.

“I need to talk to the Doctor alone please.”

“Mate, no, the joke is over now.” Graham chuckles nervously.

“He isn’t joking, Graham.”

Graham scratches his head and looks up at Ryan. “You stupid boy.” He says, shaking his head and walking away. The words stung even, even for the Doctor.

Yaz takes Annie out of Ryan’s arms and follows Graham. The Doctor wanted her to stay but it looked like Graham needed calming down, and Yaz had the skills for that. When they are both out of sight and earshot, the Doctor waits for Ryan to speak first.

“She’s not mine.”

“It says she is.”

“I can’t be.”

“You are.”

“I’m not.”

“Give me your arm, I’ll do a blood test.”

“You don’t need to do a blood test.”

“How are you so sure?”

“I didn’t… we never… I know what you’re thinking but-”

“You didn’t sleep with that girl?”

“No.”

Now the Doctor was really confused. The TARDIS was never wrong. Well, nearly never wrong. Now would be the worst time for her to be wrong.

“Please let me take a sample.” The Doctor reaches out for his hand. Ryan allows her and she pricks his thumb and squeezes until a small drop of blood appears.

“Will this say for sure?” Ryan asks as his finger gets pulled into a small metal tube.

“Should do.”

The Doctor doesn’t know what to say next. Neither does Ryan, considering his silence. Thankfully, Yaz comes back, asking questions for her friend to answer leaving the Doctor able to program to see if there was a match. This whole situation was absurd. If she had known that the father was, supposedly, Ryan she would never have run the tests at all and let it remain a mystery. She knows how time travel can be messy but it was still new to Ryan. This could break him.

“How long until we know?” Ryan asks.

“Anything from ten minutes to half an hour. Depends if it’s a close match or not.”

“Can I go and see Graham?”

The Doctor nods. “I’ll tell you when it’s done.”

Yaz takes Ryan’s place next to her near the console. Yaz has the look in her eye where she thinks that she knows the Doctor’s thoughts down to a T, but anyone with that look is usually always wrong.

“I know you have a plan this time.” She says. 

The Doctor bites her lip. “I have a last resort plan.”

“What is it?”

“I find Annie a home and wipe everyone’s memories of her to save the heartache.”

Some moments of quiet pass and Yaz speaks up again. This time her assumption was right. 

“Why does that option bug you?” Yaz asks carefully. 

“Because it would be every trace of her. The whole timeline will go. Everything.” The Doctor pauses to make sure that Yaz was catching on to what she was saying. “Everything including today.”

“Would your memory be wiped too?” Yaz asks.

“No.”

“So you’ll know about what happened between us and I won’t.” Yaz says, her voice breaking halfway through the sentence. The Doctor nods. “Then we better not let it get to that.”

“I’ll try not to.” The Doctor tries to give her a comforting smile but Yaz sees right through it. 

“No.” Yaz rests both her arms on her shoulders, muting anything that might have come out of the Doctor's mouth. She was still getting used to being touched in this body. “Do not let it get to that.”

For the second time in a matter of hours, a few moments pass before the Doctor realises that she’s being hugged. Tight. Unbelievably tight. Every inch of Yaz’s frame was pressed against hers like if she let go the Doctor wouldn’t be there anymore. She didn't realise that Yaz cared so much about her up until now and it scared her.

“Why are you hugging so tight?” The Doctor asks.

“Just incase.” Yaz breaths against the Doctor’s neck, sending shivers down her spine. The Doctor wishes hard to herself that her body would start behaving around about now. 

“Incase what? Your memories disappear, I don’t.”

“I don’t trust you to make a move soon enough.”

“Huh. Thanks for your faith in me.”

“What do you think the result will be?” Yaz asks, jumping from one line of thought to another.

“Honestly? I’m not sure.”

“Not even a hunch?”

The Doctor sighs. “It would make sense. Why they’ve been so attached to each other from the start. I promised I wouldn’t say this but having Annie around made him think about whether he would be a good dad or not.”

“Bit spooky.”

“I know, looking at it now, but then that might just be coincidence.”

But it doesn’t seem that they’re going to have to wait that long to find out. The TARDIS makes the same bleep as before and forces the Doctor and Yaz to split. The TARDIS was never usually cold, however the lack of body heat made it feel like it was. She keeps her eyes low, not wanting another shock straight away and looks up when she’s ready.

“Wait.” Yaz stops her from engaging with the written words. “What happens to Ryan? If he did sleep with that girl and get her pregnant.”

“There are a few options. Firstly I’d scan her to see if she’s still a fixed point.”

“I thought the point of a fixed point was that it was fixed.”

“It’s a bit wibbly wobbly, it’s best not to ask questions about it. Anyway,” The Doctor continues before Yaz can call her up on it again. “If she still is one there are two options: one, we leave her in a children’s home like planned. Two, Ryan stays in this time period and raises Annie. If she isn’t a fixed point anymore then we can take her back to your time and figure something out.”

“Those are all terrible options.” Yaz says, unimpressed.

Of course there was the fourth option that the Doctor hadn’t mentioned. They keep Annie, here, on the TARDIS, and she grows up with this being her normal. It was a solution but it was one that the Doctor wasn’t totally on board with. It was always just her and her TARDIS and she was old. Too old to have a child running around to look after. Plus, there could be a point when all Graham, Ryan and Yaz might leave, or die, leaving the Doctor with a kid. She already had the responsibility of the universe counting on her, especially the Earth, and no matter how sweet Annie was, she wasn’t prepared to give that up.

The Doctor finally takes her eyes off of Yaz and looks at the screen.

_Paternal parent: Ryan Sinclair_

_Biological links: N/A_

What? What does that mean? How can Ryan be her dad without having any biological links? Perhaps Graham was right about family not only being blood relations?

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Yaz says, resting her hand on the Doctor’s back.

“Go and get them. All of them.” The Doctor instructs. She hopes that Yaz knows her well enough by now that she would have posed her words as a question if she wasn’t so frustratingly confused. She returns with the boys and Annie swiftly. The Doctor grabs Annie from Graham’s arms. She was the one she wanted to talk to.

“Yeah, Ryan and I talked it out, thanks for asking.” Graham tuts but the Doctor didn’t have time to deal with his snark.

“Annie, Annabelle, small child, please answer this one question as clearly as you can with what little grasp of communication you have, because I have literally, right now, come up with an idea as to how this has happened.”

_“Okay.”_

“When you look at Ryan, who do you consider him to be?”

_“My dad.”_

Okay. The Doctor's suspicion was right so far. 

“And why’s that?”

“Can you tell us what she’s saying?” Ryan asks.

“In a minute, let her speak.”

_“Because he looks like me and he looks after me.”_

Just as the Doctor had thought. Ryan wasn’t the father, he was what Annie considered to be her dad and that thought must live with her throughout her life, only getting confused at some point and probably writing it on a form and that’s why the TARDIS had Ryan down as her parent.

Graham coughs, bringing the Doctor out of her own head. She explains her line of thinking and everyone takes it as fact. Yaz looks relieved; probably because she knows what the options were if Ryan was the father.

“Ryan you’re not her dad but she believes you are, for her entire life.” The Doctor summarizes her final sentence to make sure she was clear. She thought Ryan would be happy about it but his face doesn’t even crack a smile.

“She thinks I abandon her. She’ll still live through all that crappy emotion and it’s not even my fault but my name gets attached to it.”

The Doctor is enlightened to his point of view. He was right. Annie could end up feeling the same things he felt as he did about his dad but she also might not. It was a guessing game when it came to the future.

Instead of saying something she didn’t have the right words for, the Doctor passes Annie back to Graham and pulls Ryan into a hug before he could protest it. She was very much a hugging person now and saw the benefits of them as clear as day.

“We can visit her. In the future. We can explain everything and clear your name.” She suggests.

“I’d like that.” Ryan whispers.

“And we can make sure we find her a good home now, right Doc?” Graham adds placing a comforting hand on Ryan’s shoulder.

“I wouldn’t leave her in anything below standard.” The Doctor promises.

The Doctor feels Yaz reach one arm around her and one arm around Ryan, inserting herself into the display of affection. She gets kissed on the cheek by Yaz for (she assumes) her hard work figuring that one out. It makes the Doctor blush severely and her temperature rise by at least five degrees. That was the first time Yaz had done something like that in front of other people and it made it more real. The day had been real and not one sided.

“Yaz, you know that just hit my face too, right?” Ryan says.

“Don’t care right now Ryan.”

“I should get to bed.” Graham says after a minute of him awkwardly standing there with his hand on Ryan's shoulder. The Doctor moves away so fast to take Annie into her care that Yaz almost loses her balance and has to cling onto Ryan for support.

“Me too.” Ryan says. “I need to go through all…” He waves his hand in a circle in front of him. “...this.”

“Come on mate.” Graham throws his arm over Ryan’s shoulder and they walk away.

“What now?” Yaz smiles. However, her smile quickly turns into a yawn.

“I forgot you looked after her most of last night. You’re going to bed.” The Doctor says. 

“I’m not tired.” Yaz yawns again.

“That’s a joke, isn’t it.”

“Okay, so I’m a bit tired, but I still want…” Yaz stops herself. The Doctor pleads through her eyes for her to continue. “I want to spend normal time with you.”

“There is no normal time with me.”

“I’m not going to bed unless you agree to-”

Yaz doesn’t have time to finish her sentence. The Doctor had tapped her temple with her free hands, commanding Yaz’s body into sleep mode. She’ll look after Annie in Yaz’s room tonight. If Yaz wants normal time but the Doctor doesn’t need to sleep, the least she can do is stay in the same room.

The Doctor tries to scoop Yaz under her one arm to stop her from falling. She probably should've waited to do that from when they were in the bedroom but she acted off of instinct. 

 _“You two have a habit of knocking each other out.”_ Annie sneers.

“And you have a habit of being cheeky, but do I mention it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a teen rated fic... sex? Ryan having sex? I don't know her I only know making out in underwear and then the camera panning out the window and fading to black


	12. Graham

Graham was too old for drama like this. The adrenaline, the fear, the relief of it being a misunderstanding; it all meant he couldn’t sleep. His brain ran through all the  ‘what if’ and ‘what about’ scenarios that drove him into a frenzy. If the results weren’t a mix up of words and intentions, he’d be a great grandfather to someone who wasn’t much younger than her was. He and Ryan would have to stop travelling with the Doctor to take care of her properly. Give it all up. 

But Graham can’t choose which was worse. Giving up life with the Doctor or never knowing what happens to the poor kid. 

His feet had led him to the room with the most people in. He had meant to only walk around until his head cleared but seeing the Doctor, the one who could potentially give him some answers and put his mind to rest, alone meant he had the opportunity to ask. 

“Oi, Doc.” He stage whispers into the room, noting that Yaz and Annie were both asleep, but the Doctor still jumps like the skittish cat she is. She scurries over to the doorway, her body language screaming that she was ready to listen to whatever Graham has to say.

“What’s up.” The Doctor asks. 

“I’m too busy thinking about what’s going to happen to her to sleep.” 

“Graham, I told you, she will be looked after.”

“I know, I know you say that but if there’s one thing my Grace taught me is that growing up in this time as a black woman is a struggle.” 

“Not always. Put her in the right community surrounded by the right people and-” 

“You’ve never regenerated into someone that isn’t white, have you?”

Graham stops the Doctor dead in her tracks. Cracks start to develop in the positive front she was putting up and it makes Graham wonder as to when the last time someone called her out like this was. 

“No.” She says.

“Sometimes I think you think of the human race too positively.” Graham tells her.

“Sometimes I think you’re too cautious.” The Doctor retaliates. 

Graham liked that about him and the Doctor. Their honesty with each other meant that they rarely ever clashed when a sticky situation came up and they made a good team. It only happened once, when their honesty didn’t work, but that was a long time ago now and he never did act on what he said he would do. 

Graham sighs. His eyes catch a glimpse of something silver rotating over the area where Annie slept. It was delicate, elegant, but at the same clearly homemade and that could only be done by the Doctor’s hand. It even had symbols of her own language scattered across the bars. Graham turns his head back to the Doctor to confirm it but he found her attention to be somewhere else. He follows her gaze, and lands on Yaz. For a second Graham thinks that it’s a hint that he should leave and this conversation can wait until morning but there was something in the way she stared; something different.

“Am I doing the right thing?” The Doctor says when she finally realises she isn’t invisible. 

“Depends which person you’re talking about.”

The Doctor looks at him unamused. “You know which one.”

“I can’t decide that for you.” He says, honestly. The Doctor throws her head back and it shook Graham a little to see her so wound up by herself. 

“I can’t… it’s just… we’ll never… she won’t get…” The Doctor starts four different sentences in one and neglects to finish any of them. 

“Think about what it really is that’s bothering you.” Graham suggests, not knowing if it would have any effect at all on her. 

The Doctor stops fidgeting and her breathing evens out. Maybe Graham’s words were working. 

“There are so many ways that it could end badly. It has before, too many times.” 

“One foot in the past, one foot in the future and you’re shitting on today.”

The Doctor’s face crinkled. “I’m sorry, what?”

“If you’re too busy thinking about what’s  _ going _ to happen, you won’t see or appreciate what’s happening in front of you  _ now _ .” He nudges the Doctor’s side with his elbow. “And what you’re thinking will happen might not happen at all so there’s no point dwelling on it.”

Graham thought his words were simple but the Doctor looked at him like they were the most important words in the world. It wasn’t ground breaking advice, sure, but it had hit her in some sort of way, and it was funny; her always being the one who created wonder and now he had turned the tables on her.

“And you wonder why I have faith in the human race.” She says, smiling softly. “You can find hope even when there’s barely anything there.”

“Thanks. I think.”  

Yaz’s light snoring fills the quiet between them. Graham was glad that the Doctor’s mind was now settled but his was still running a marathon. All of them had gotten so attached so fast, it was frightening. He wishes it had happened that fast with Ryan, the kid he was meant to have a brilliant bond with. Ryan. Graham hopes he’s sleeping well and not keeping himself up like he is right now.

“Is Ryan okay?” The Doctor asks. “I still haven’t really spoken to him.”

“He’s okay.” Graham says. “Teenagers. A lot of emotion.”

“Please don’t remind me they’re teenagers.”

“Almost in their 20s.” Graham phrases his comment differently. 

“Bit better.” 

“I wonder what she’ll be like in her twenties.” Graham’s thoughts fall back to Annie again. 

“Like I said, we can always go and view her.” The Doctor reiterated. 

“Isn’t that stalking?” 

“Not technically.” The Doctor shrugs. 

Graham smiles and shakes his head in disbelief. 

“It’s been a hell of a day.” He thinks out loud, not really expecting the Doctor to say anything back, but she does. 

“Tomorrow will be better.” 

“You seem sure of that.” Graham raises an eyebrow. 

“It will be.” She repeats, as if to speak it into existence. 

She tries not to make it obvious, but the Doctor’s gaze retreats back to Yaz asleep in her bed. 

“Go to bed, Doc.” Graham insists. 

“I don’t need sleep.” 

“You might not need it, but I know you want that.” Graham points in the general direction of Yaz. The light was low but he could tell the Doctor was blushing a little. He goes to leave them alone, to sort this admittedly much lighter issue than the others that occurred today, out between themselves. However, the Doctor catches his wrist. 

“Graham, is that everything you wanted to tell me? I don’t want to neglect anything for the sake of talking about my own problems.”

Graham thinks for a moment. He had aired a couple of his grievances but there were still many on his mind. The conversation he had with Ryan while they were waiting for the blood test results. The fact that this kid they were all starting to treat like family was going to be leaving them and soon. The thought that he was feeling a little bit isolated since Yaz and the Doctor would be spending more time together now and Ryan was always the default to look after Annie. The fact he was still grieving his wife and he didn’t know whether or not he should be over that by now. He wanted to tell her all sorts of things, but Yaz rolled over in her sleep and it made the Doctor loosen her grip on Graham’s wrist, whether she knew she was doing it or not. Graham nods and leaves before the Doctor could stop him again, taking a note out of the Doctor’s book and promising himself that tomorrow will be better. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in other news none of my group have done their parts for our group presentation and i am ///this/// close to just not turning up, can't wait to finally drop out in 2 weeks, gonna yeet myself out of there


	13. Yaz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw racism

Yaz awakes the exact same way she does as the morning before. If she hadn’t noticed the Doctor wearing a different coloured shirt she might have thought she was reliving the day all over again. But everything else was the same; the Doctor’s hand draped over her waist, Annie in between them but this time snuggled against the Doctor, and the same feeling of disbelief in her stomach. Yaz gently brushes the blonde hair out the the Doctor’s face, however it makes her notice that she was still in the same clothes as yesterday, jeans and all. 

“Hey.” Yaz shakes the Doctor’s side, waking her instantly. She must have not been in a deep sleep like yesterday because she wasn’t confused as to where she was when she opened her eyes. Instead the Doctor smiled nervously at her.

“Did you force me to sleep?” Yaz asks.

The Doctor’s eyes widen. “Yes. Maybe. I don’t know, depends if you’re mad about it.”

“I’m not mad.”

“Then yeah I did.” 

“Could’ve let me get changed first.” Yaz adds.

“Sorry.”

Annie’s chubby arms stretch up into their sight lines with her fists curled tightly into balls, almost punching the Doctor’s jaw. They both watch them relax and go down again, wondering if she was waking up or simply stretching. 

“Did she sleep better tonight?” Yaz asks. Her voice had turned to a whisper now that she was reminded that it wasn’t just her and the Doctor. 

“Little bit. She woke up a couple of times but not for long.” The Doctor explains. 

“So why’d you bring her into the bed instead of leaving her where she was?”

“Dunno.” The Doctor lets Annie grab hold of her finger. She was slowly waking up and getting used to her surroundings with her eyes coming into focus. “Might have been something Graham said.”

“Graham?”

“Yeah he came and found me when you were sleeping. Wanted a chat.” The Doctor looks up from Annie. “You didn’t hear anything, did you?”

“No.” Yaz says, but she was a little concerned with the look of worry on the Doctor’s face. She decides to leave it; whatever was said was between the two of them and didn’t involve her. 

“Help me find a family for her today?” The Doctor asks hopefully.

“How do we do that?”

“I’ve got a copy of the local adoptive families in Brighton. Thought we could check them out, pose as people from social services.”

“We aren’t taking her back to London?”

“Why would we?”

“Her mum might come looking for her.”

“You have a point but moving the TARDIS would mean that the boys know. Ryan… if he knew the process was starting now-”

“He doesn’t hate you.” Yaz cuts in. 

“I just think she’ll be better off here.” The Doctor continues, jumping straight to her main point.

“Whatever you say captain.” Yaz sits up.

“So you’ll come with me?” The Doctor reaches out to stop her moving but her arm could only stretch far enough to brush against her 

“Yes, you buffoon.” Yaz rolls out of bed. “I’m just going to have a shower.” 

“Oh, actually,” The Doctor sits up and grimaces. “There may or may not be a dirty nappy in the shower basin that needs sorting out.” 

“Would you be living in your own mess if we weren’t here?” Yaz asks as she walks away.

“Probably.” The Doctor shouts after her.

Yaz rids herself of the clothes that now felt like they were sewn onto her skin, disposes the dirtied nappy properly and showers like she said she would. The way that the Doctor had phrased their plan made her move as quickly as possible. It sounded like she didn’t want the boys to know that they were going out and they would be waking up pretty soon. She doesn’t know how the Doctor was going to hide that they were both gone, or even if they were taking Annie with them. Once she was ready, she returned to the Doctor and no Annie.

“Do I need to worry about where you put the child?” Yaz asks.

“Nope she’s fine, she’s with Graham. Ready?” The Doctor hands her a pair of sunglasses and a water bottle. Yaz  guesses that it’s still incredibly hot outside; which was confirmed when she stepped out of the TARDIS doors.

“Aw come on!” The Doctor lifts her arms in disappointment and lets them land on her hips. Yaz had forgotten that the TARDIS had been static for a couple of days now and that means that graffiti artists had used the blue box to spread their message of peace and love. “Actually, I take that back, it’s quite good.” 

“Doctor… the phrase ‘fuck the police’ is written all over the flower petals.” Yaz says as she notices it. 

“Oh. Right.” The Doctor looks at her like she wanted to say something but she didn’t want to offend her. 

“Just say it.”

“I mean for the time they have a point about the institution.” 

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s nothing against you or your choice of career.”

“Sure.” Yaz squints her eyes.

“Should we get going or should I just keep digging myself a hole.”

Yaz lets her face soften again. “Let’s go.” 

She follows one step behind the Doctor to make sure that when the Doctor realised she had gone the wrong way, Yaz wouldn’t get walked into. The first house they successfully found and tried was not as good as they expected. The couple already had a full house of children and insisted they had no more space. The second house they tried was nowhere near the standard it needed to be to look after the children it had in it let alone Annie. The third house was further away than the other two and it gave Yaz the chance to take in some different aspects of the city with the Doctor’s (still excited) narration. The woman who answered the door was smiley and pleasant enough to the point where the Doctor felt safe enough to accept the invitation inside for tea and mention Annie by name. It was all going well, until…

“Is it coloured?” The woman, who’s name Yaz forgets, asks as if it was necessary.

“Excuse me?” Yaz speaks up for the first time, putting her teacup back in its saucer. 

“Is it coloured? Like you?” The woman asks again, still not seeing the problem with that question. 

“ _ She  _ is, yes.” Yaz answers before the Doctor can stop her. “Is there a problem with that?”

“Well, we still don’t know what their kind bring with them from-”

“She was born here!”

“Yasmin.” The Doctor reaches for her elbow but she doesn’t allow her to touch it.

“She will still have the genes in her.”

“How can you claim to love all children but exclude an entire race or people? They need to be loved just as much.” Yaz challenges her.

“Yaz.” The Doctor warns again.

“Watch your tongue girl.” The woman speaks down to her.

“You know I don’t think you deserve any kind of love back from those children. Who knows what bullshit views you’re filling their heads with.”

“How dare you, you-”

“Okay, we need to go now, thank you for your time.” 

The Doctor grabs Yaz and drags her away before the woman completely blows her top. Yaz lets the Doctor take her outside and down the street, into some kind of alleyway between rows of houses without much protest.

“I know you told me people like that existed but you can’t blame me for-” 

Yaz stopped getting pulled along and instead is gently pushed up against the wall behind her but the action wasn’t what caused her to stop talking. It was the look plastered on the Doctor’s face that Yaz couldn’t decode down into one emotion. And her face was fuzzy, why was it fuzzy? Why couldn’t Yaz see the entirety of the face in front of her? The Doctor’s hands pin her waist to the cold brick.

Oh.

In the moment that it took Yaz to question everything in her rage, it had slipped her mind that herself and the Doctor had a thing going, starting yesterday. The Doctor’s face was blurry because she was moving in to kiss her and fast. As soon as Yaz gets out of her own head she reciprocates at the same velocity. Yesterday was safe, secure, light, and sweet. But now… now was different. It was desperate, dangerous, demanding just as equally on both sides with open mouths ready to take on whatever the other was willing to try out just to show how much they cared. Yaz could feel the anger slowly pouring out of her heart with every beat. One of the Doctor’s hands cups Yaz’s cheek to push her face away slightly despite how Yaz insisted on chasing her lips. She didn't even register she was doing it.

“You should call out racists more often, it’s a really good look on you.” The Doctor says, barely a whisper. 

“That’s the worst pick up lin-”

“I know.”

The Doctor goes for her again and Yaz lets her. She’d let her do anything. She realised that she wanted her to do anything and she’d never felt like that before. Never ever, not for anyone. The less intense their emotions over the ghastly woman they’d just had the misfortune of meeting got, the slower and smoother everything became until they found a natural stop. The tips of their noses still slightly pressed together; Yaz’s hand in the Doctor’s hair and the Doctor’s arms wrapped around Yaz’s body.

“We should go to the other houses.” The Doctor finally speaks up.

“Just wait a minute. Stay like this.” Yaz doesn’t mean to beg but it certainly comes out that way.

“You saw her face though right? When you started going off on her?” The Doctor asks. 

Yaz’s mind flashes back to before, in that house with the bony face in front of her, and starts to laugh. The pure shock horror of being talked back to from a ‘council official’ was a picture in itself. The Doctor cracks a smile and starts to laugh too, her face lighting up even more, if that was possible.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” The Doctor asks another question. One that Yaz knew the answer to but she was too scared to say it. It was weird, how she could so quickly get used to the physical side of things but wasn’t able to tell her she was beautiful. 

“Come on. Where to next?” Yaz says instead.

She encourages the Doctor to move off again and to restart the search. The streets were still busy despite it being a work and school day but they managed to get around unnoticed just fine. Especially since they were rubbing shoulders every few steps from standing too close to each other.

“This one should be better.” The Doctor says as they walk up the short garden path and knock on the door. 

“Well well well, if it isn’t the two lady lovers that don’t realise they fancy each other!” A familiar looking man opens the door but Yaz can't put her finger on exactly where she'd seen him before now.

“Sorry, do we know each other?” The Doctor asks him politely while Yaz stands there and hides her blushing.

“I thanked you for protecting us. On the beach the other day?” Suddenly everything clicks for Yaz and she remembers. “I’m Thomas but you can call me Tommy.” He extends his hand for both of them to shake and they both accept. 

“I’m sorry but would you mind if I asked who lives here?” The Doctor says, keeping to business.

“Just me, my partner and our cat. If you’re looking for Mr and Mrs Copper, them and their kids moved out about a year ago.”

“We were looking for them.” Yaz tells him.

“Why? I mean, if I’m allowed to ask.”

“Do you remember the child we had with us on the beach that day?” The Doctor checks.

“Kind of.”

“Well, she needs a proper adoptive family. She got left with us but-”

“We’ll take her.” Tommy says defiantly. His certainty takes both the Doctor and Yaz aback. “Please, my partner and I we’ve wanted children for years but, obviously…” He shrugs. "And I know you can't be a high-ranking police officer as well as a social worker so..."

“Are you good with kids?” Yaz asks when the Doctor comes up with nothing to say.

“Yeah! I used to look after my niece and nephew all the time before my family realised I was gay.”

“That’s terrible.” Yaz can’t help but say.

“It’s how it is.” Tommy says with an air of nonchalant about him. 

The Doctor looks over at Yaz with raised eyebrows. The look said ‘Should we?’ and Yaz nods. Why not? He seemed like a nice, caring guy. His partner was probably the same.

“Can I leave my number with you? So you know that when we call it’s us.” The Doctor says scribbling on a bit of paper.

“Hang on that’s my number.” Yaz notices. 

“Same thing.” The Doctor asks handing over the paper. “Can we come tomorrow? Just to introduce her to you, you know nothing too serious or binding, just to see if she likes you.”

“Miss Smith, that would be great but, how do you trust me so easily?” He asks.

“I can see you’re a good man.” The Doctor says simply. 

Yaz doesn’t really listen to what the rest of the conversation held. She was too busy wondering why the Doctor was being called ‘Miss Smith. Wondering how they were going to break the news to Ryan and Graham. Or even how long this whole process was going to take because in reality neither of them knew a single thing about passing a child onto a new how in the least traumatic way possible. Peppered in between those thoughts were flashbacks of how the Doctor held her before they came here; but now was not the time to get distracted. She needed to at least look like she was paying attention.

But that was harder than she thought, and it kept happening the entire way back to the TARDIS. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a selection of brighton alleyways and streets for your imaginations consideration. yes I did go out and take those photos with this in mind because I have nothing better to do https://kiras-monkey-bum-face.tumblr.com/post/184560980919
> 
> also proof reading? still don't know her but what's new


	14. Ryan

“They’ve been gone for ages again.” Ryan comments. 

“They’ll be fine.” Graham sips on his tea, unbothered.

“Where exactly did they go?”

“I don’t know mate.”

Knowing he wasn’t going to get a straight answer after his attempts, Ryan goes back to helping Annie play with some building blocks. That was the Doctor’s influence, Ryan guessed. She always tinkered at night when they were sleeping and Annie was in her care and it must be rubbing off on her despite the short period of time. It’s like how Graham accidentally started speaking with a northern accent after a month or so of travelling.

“What if we ask the TARDIS?” Graham suggests.

“Ask her what?” Ryan says, not really paying attention and passing a bright yellow block for Annie to use instead.

“How they’re getting on. You know, she’s telepathically linked to the Doc and all that, she might be able to say where she is at least.” 

Ryan looks at the main pillar with the control board around it, then to Graham, then back again. How would it work? How would they even ask? They were human and she was a machine, not even a machine made by humans. Impossible. Mad machine. 

“How does the Doctor make her work?” Graham asks another question, getting up from where he was sat to stand where the Doctor usually did over the console. 

“Dunno.” Ryan shrugs. “Maybe just ask.”

“Out loud or from my noggin?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“You’re the mechanic.” 

“Not for time lord shit!”

The TARDIS makes a noise. Ryan doesn’t know how but he knows that he had caused offence by calling her mechanics ‘shit’. Must be the telepathy. He apologises silently.

“Oi, are you listening right now?” Graham asks the machine. Another noise fills every inch of air surrounding them. “Can you tell us where the Doc and Yaz are?” 

The next noise was hesitant.

“Please.” Ryan addresses her now. “To set our minds to rest. You know how the Doctor can get herself into trouble.”

“That’s true, she does that a lot.” Graham backs up his point.

There’s a pause. No one making a sound. The only thing to be heard was Annie mumbling to herself and the clonking of plastic trying to be put together. Then, a hologram of the planet appeared by the front doors. It zooms in: England, Southern England, South East England, East Sussex, Brighton. At least they were still in the area, Ryan thought. 

The camera, if you could even call it that, swerves through small streets and alleyways; Ryan can’t tell if it’s moving really fast or if it’s the static that’s making it seem fuzzy. But it comes to a sudden still. The projected light turned into human shaped holograms of Yaz and the Doctor. Yaz was being dragged away from somewhere by the Doctor gripping on her elbow, and her grip looked tight. Yaz’s mouth was moving but they couldn’t hear what she was saying. If the Doctor was talking too it would’ve looked like they were having an argument, but she wasn’t. Her face wasn’t giving anything away at all, which was strange since she was always so emotive.

“That doesn’t bode well.” Graham says cautiously. 

Even Annie was now paying attention to the figures that resembled the two women. 

“What do you think has happened?” Ryan turns away from the hologram to ask Graham. If he lied, Ryan knew his tell.

“I really don’t know mate.” He sighs in response. 

Turning back to the hologram, they see something they really shouldn’t have. It was so out of character to seem them like that; interlocked by not only the mouth but the entirety of their bodies. 

“Oh bloody hell, how do you switch this thing off.” Graham goes to flick switches but instead only holds his hands over them, remembering that if he touches anything they might accidentally fly off into the vortex.

“Cover your eyes, kid.” Ryan tells Annie. She scrunches her eyes shut and slaps her hands over them for secondary defence.

Ryan can’t stop looking. He knows he shouldn’t. He knows it’s wrong to. But he’s never seen people with a connection like that before. It was insane how it was so messy yet in sync they were with each other. It makes him wonder what could have triggered this. Something powered by intense emotion, clearly, but which emotion?

The projection shuts off. 

“We don’t mention we saw that. That’s more than just a sleepy cuddle in bed.” Graham states seriously. 

“Obviously.” Ryan says. He remembers that Annie is still there with them, with her small hands still covering her eyes. “You can look now.”  

Annie takes away her hands and instantly starts playing again like the smart kid she was growing into. Of course, it was highly unlikely she knew what Yaz and the Doctor were doing anyway, and she couldn’t ask either of them what it meant, but it still felt like the responsible thing to do to tell her to not look. 

All three of them played together with the building blocks, creating what were pointless objects to the two older men but to Annie they meant something. She tried to tell them what kind of story she was making out of them but the Doctor wasn’t there to translate so they continue like they would normally, nodding and agreeing to encourage her to run with her plot. The Doctor was right about children having a wild imagination that needs to be nurtured. 

They came back through the TARDIS doors while Ryan was debating with Graham as to how you properly construct a Lego aeroplane. 

“How’d it go?” Ryan asks, still not really knowing what they had gone out to do.

“You don’t want to know why we went first?” The Doctor asks, practically skidding across the TARDIS floor to pick up some blocks to play with herself. Graham and Ryan ask to know at the same time, but Yaz is the one that answers.

“We were investigating families. For Annie.”

Ryan knew it would be something like that but it still didn’t take away the punch in the gut. Their time together was almost up.

“Did you find anyone good?” Graham asks. 

“There’s one couple.” Yaz sits down right next to the Doctor. 

“And their cat, don’t forget the cat.” The Doctor adds, like it was the most important detail.

A high pitched voice imitating a cat’s meow comes from Ryan’s left and he is suddenly reminded that at some point early on they had been teaching Annie animal noises to pass the time. It makes all of them smile collectively. The Doctor congratulates her for getting the connection between word and sound right, however, she said it like a university tutor would to their student. 

“I said they could meet her tomorrow.” The Doctor says. “See how she reacts to them.”

“And how they react to her.” Yaz adds.

“Are you two going to going to be finishing each other’s sentences all the time now or…” Ryan smirks. 

The Doctor blushes as soon as he says it. Yaz goes to lace her fingers in between the Doctor’s and the Doctor seemed to go even more red in the face. Good job Ryan had already agreed with Graham not to mention what the TARDIS showed them, otherwise she might melt into the floor to escape the embarrassment. 

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Ryan says, sweetening his tone as if to say he approved of their relationship, whatever stage it was currently at.

“Anyway you know the whole thing about finding out who her dad is.”

“I’m still traumatized so I can’t really forget.” Ryan says.

It was still less than 24 hours ago since the scare and the blood tests and the ache of waiting to find out what the TARDIS meant. The most painful part was talking to Graham. At first he couldn’t get a word in edgewise; Graham, telling him how stupid he was for not being able to keep it in his pants, how this could destroy their way of living now and how he’d probably have to come out of retirement to help support them if he was to keep her. It was only when he had run out of puff that Ryan could tell him the TARDIS had got it wrong and the Doctor was running his blood to check. The words Graham had said had hurt but Ryan had to accept his stream of apology. He was a forgiving person, but some of the stronger stuff Graham said would take longer to forget. 

“Well, if tomorrow works,” The Doctor looks between both him and Graham, hope shimmering behind her eyes. “She’s going to have two to look after her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> side note: I'm going to spontaneously combust when I see 13 in a tux in season 12


	15. Thirteen

Annie woke up early the next morning. The Doctor, not wanting her to wake up Yaz, took her out to sit in the TARDIS doorway and watch the sun rise. A few stars were still out when they first got there and the Doctor felt her usual yearning to go back up there, to start running again, but the kid in her lap still needed her help, just for this last stretch. There were so many things she wished she could show Annie. So many planets and time periods and constellations that would leave her with fantastic memories and make her never lose hope in the universe. Those trips were reserved for those with kind hearts. Annie had one of those for sure, she could just tell.

“This could be our last day together kid. You okay with that?”

_“What do you mean?”_

“This situation was only ever temporary. We can’t give you the life you need but we think we’ve found some people who can."

_“Did you find my mum?”_

“No. I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t like the Doctor hadn’t tried. She had tried. She had spent the late hours of the evening yesterday trying to track down the name that appeared about Ryan’s as ‘Maternal Parent.” but there was nothing. That woman was untraceable and didn’t want to be found. The Doctor had looked for so long that Yaz had to pull her out of her seat by force and make her promise to not start looking again when she fell asleep. The Doctor didn’t break it.

_“The new people: are they like you and the one that makes you blush?”_

“What? Do you mean Yaz?" 

_“Yes. Are they like you two?”_

“I don’t know what you mean, ‘are they like you two?’.”

“She’s asking if they love each other.” Ryan’s voice makes the Doctor jolt upright. “I don’t speak baby but I know that.”

“All of you have to stop sneaking up on me!” The Doctor warns. Ryan sits down next to her while he apologises. “Can’t sleep?”

“Nope. Thought I might as well get up.” He twiddles his thumbs.

This was the first time they had been alone together properly since Ryan’s outburst. Sure, they had time together when the Doctor was taking his blood but both of their heads were in different spaces then. Even before that situation the Doctor had pushed away his advances of an apology.

“You sure this couple have everything? It’s a bit quick to take on a child.” Ryan asks.

“I don’t know. Haven't even met the other guy. That’s why today’s happening.”

Annie starts to lean and make grabbing hands at Ryan so the Doctor lets him take her. She looks back up at the sky. It was slowly turning from orange to pinky-purple which the Doctor knows will slowly fade to blue, if the sky was going to be clear that day. The air was fresh with a hint of salt since the TARDIS was parked so close to the seafront and the seagulls were starting to wake up and litter the sky. If something was to come out of this little adventure, it would certainly be that the Doctor can't stand seagulls. 

“If it doesn’t work, what will happen?” Ryan asks.

“We find another home or we take her to a children's home.” The Doctor answers simple and plainly.

But in reality, it really isn’t that simple. They might have to search the entire country for an acceptable place that met their standards and that means that Annie would be staying with them for who knows how long. It was a sweet idea, a nice idea on the front of it, but looking after a growing child would really start to take its toll and the Doctor seemed to be the only one who knew that. As soon as she started walking everything would become harder. She’d need someone to constantly have an eye on her. Annie would have to have a proper bed, a proper schedule, and she would need to start mingling with other kids her age and that was just her. As for the rest of the fam, Ryan would get more and more attached making it harder to say goodbye when the day finally came. Graham would either increasingly risk running into his younger self or he would start to miss the adventure and loll around the TARDIS like Grace would hate from him to end up doing. For herself, the Doctor would get stir-crazy feeling like she was trapped in one tiny section of the planet let alone the universe. She would become unbearable even to herself. And Yaz, she would really miss her family. The Doctor would want to do her best to make sure they were all okay and coping but there weren’t enough hours in the day to do that, and there certainly weren’t enough hours to build a relationship. It sounded selfish, but she wasn’t going to give up on whatever was going on with Yaz if she could help it.

“I know you’re worried.” Ryan breaks the silence.

“I’m not.” The Doctor lies through her teeth.

“You wear all your emotions on your sleeve, we all know how you’re feeling literally every second of the day.”

“Fine.” The Doctor gives in. “I am a bit nervous.”

“For us, for her, or for yourself?”

The Doctor scoffs. “Is all of the above an option?”

She feels a hand rest on her shoulder and she instantly pulls away.

“What’d you do that for?” She asks when she realises it’s Ryan’s hand.

“I thought it would be comforting.”

“Why?”

“It works when Yaz does it!”

“That’s because I want Yaz to touch me!” The Doctor blurts out and Ryan looks at her like he can’t believe what she meant, despite _that_ not being what she meant at all.  “Wait no, I didn’t mean like- I meant-”

“It’s alright, Doctor, I get you.” He laughs, which takes the Doctor away from the edge of panic. Annie laughs along with him.

“Yeah. I know. I’m hilarious.” The Doctor says, turning back to looking at the sun rise higher and higher in the sky.

“When do we meet them?” Ryan asks. The Doctor shuffles awkwardly where she sat. She was only going to take Yaz back, since they were the two that had set it up and gained Tommy’s trust, to an extent. “You weren’t intending on letting us come, were you."

“No.” She smiles apologetically.

“Fine. Just make sure…”

“Make sure what?”

Ryan stares at her, dead in the eye. “Make sure we all get the chance to say goodbye.”

His words struck a chord with the Doctor. Saying goodbye to someone was never really something she got the chance to do properly and it hurt her, thinking about all the things she never got to say. To who she never got to say them to. She would never deny her friends, her  _family_ , the chance to say goodbye.

“Hi.” A familiar voice says, slowly smoothing her hand over the Doctor’s shoulder.

“That’s what I meant with the hand-”

“Shut up Ryan.” The Doctor stops him.

“Have I missed something?” Yaz asks, now gently brushing her fingertips along the Doctor’s jawline. Ryan noticed it too.

“I’ll go grab some breakfast. Have you fed her?” Ryan asks, referring to Annie who was entertaining herself with a couple of rocks Ryan must have picked up for her from the floor.

“No. Are you alright doing it?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Ryan disappears with Yaz taking his place.

“Can I put my head on your shoulder?” Yaz asks.

“Sure.” The Doctor says, slightly thrown by the question. Yaz does it, but also wraps her arms around the Doctor’s body and holds her tight. “Are you okay?”

“I dreamt you died trying to save me and then I woke up and you weren’t there.”

“But I _am_ here.”

Yaz snuggles closer into her neck. The Doctor hopes that she can’t feel her pulse racing just from being held this intimately.

“We had a kid together. You died for her too.”

“Yaz.” The Doctor starts but she was shocked at how shaky her voice was. She starts again. “Yaz I know it’s only been, like, a day and a bit but I can’t have-”

“I don’t want your children, you idiot, it was Annie.” Yaz lifts her head as she speaks. The golden sunlight that hit her face made her skin practically glow, but it was her eyes that really caught the Doctor’s attention. The usual dark brown was highlighted to a more hazel colouring that the Doctor thought was beautiful. Just beautiful. Too beautiful for words.

“Doctor, did you register any of what I just said?” Yaz pulls her back to reality.

“Absolutely not.” She admits. “Tell me again.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Everything matters.” _Especially when you’re the one saying it._ Stop it, Doctor, that’s too fast. “Why don’t you show me instead?”

“I can’t really do that.” Yaz retreats into herself, taking any physical contact they had with her.

“Please don’t go.” The Doctor blurts out.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Yaz smiles but it soon fades. “It was only a bad dream.”

There was a comfortable silence filling the gap between them now, but the Doctor didn’t like not knowing.

“Are you sure that’s it?” The Doctor checks.

“It’s fine. Trust me.”

They sit there for a little longer until people started to show up. The Doctor didn’t want to risk anyone looking behind them and seeing the box was bigger on the inside than the outside so she shut the doors and went to go to retrieve Annie. As a pair, Ryan and Graham had managed to feed her making as little mess as possible, which the Doctor saw as an achievement. The boys let the Doctor and Yaz take Annie with only a bit of hesitation and they set off.

It was another beautiful day. A few spots of clouds every now and then as they walk down the same streets as yesterday. The Doctor wanted to keep her mind positive as to what might happen in a matter of minutes but she couldn’t help being a little nervous. Most of her nerves were because of the fear of Yaz finding out she was nervous and not completely confident now that she knows her emotions aren’t as hidden as she thought. Before they knew it, the two of them were walking up the same little front path and standing in front of the door.

“Ready?” Yaz asks.

“Ready. You ready kid?”

 _“Kind of.”_ Annie says.

“It’ll be okay.” The Doctor reassures her while Yaz raises her fist to the door. A couple of seconds later it opens.

“Hello!” Tommy says directly at Annie, ignoring Yaz and the Doctor completely. Annie smiles at how she was greeted and the Doctor took that as a good sign. “And you two, obviously. Come on in.”

They follow him through the corridor and straight into the front room where another man sat in the corner reading a book. He looked familiar. Why did he look familiar?

“Darling, this is Miss Smith-”

“Call me J-” The Doctor stops herself. She can’t call herself John Smith anymore. Her brain goes to the next name that starts with the same letter. “Jane. And this is my...uh...associate, Yaz.”

The man stands up and the Doctor sees his face properly. Her breath gets caught in her throat.

“Pleased to meet you.” He says with a thick American accent and grins cheekily, extending his hand for her and Yaz to shake. “Captain Jack Harkness.” He winks at Yaz. “You can call me Jack.”

The Doctor tries not to roll her eyes. He never changes. She could also feel the heat radiating off of Yaz’s cheeks.

“Jack, stop being such a flirt!” Tommy gently punches his boyfriend’s arm.

“Is that the little lady that needs a home?” Jack asks. The Doctor still can’t believe that he’s here, right now, in front of her and wearing a proper old man sweater that he wouldn't be caught dead in in a few years. Does he recognise her? Probably not it’s a whole new body. This whole situation was insane and she can’t quite wrap her head around it. She wanted to say hi to her old friend, but it would blow her anonymity and she needed that for this to work.

“This is Annie.” Yaz says, taking her out of the Doctor’s arms and letting her sit on the floor. She stays near to Yaz’s leg, still unsure of the situation and new environment.

“Shall I make everyone a nice cup of tea?” The Doctor asks.

“Sure.” Jack places his hand on the Doctor’s back and her hearts speed up to the point where she thinks her ribs might break. “Kitchen’s through…” He tails off like he was adding things up in his head.

“Something wrong?” The Doctor asks, knowing that he’s felt her hearts pounding through her back. She tried to use her eyes to tell him that yes, it was the same old time lord standing in his living room.

“No, just thinking it might be easier if I show you where it is.”

Jack speeds off as if nothing was wrong and the Doctor follows, not neglecting to shoot a look back at Yaz to tell her to stay there and let her deal with this but also to let her know everything was fine. The kitchen was small, quaint, and covered in polaroids of Jack and Tommy with their friends. Some of which the Doctor recognised as people from the beach. Jack shuts the door behind them and his demeanor changes completely. He opens a draw and pulls out a small gun, cocking it at the Doctor. She tuts at him, shoving her hands in her pockets.

“Jack, come on now, you don’t want me regenerating in your kitchen do you? I’ve only just got used to this body.”

His arm lowers. “Is it really you?”

“How else would you explain it?”

The Doctor tries to look stern. They both do. But it really doesn’t work and both of them end up grinning at each other until Jack puts away the gun completely.

“You little minx, get in here.” Jack swallows the Doctor up completely with his much larger body and hugs her. They both start giggling like they were young again and Jack pulls back. “How long has it been? Actually never mind that, look at you!” He spins the Doctor around. “New body, huh.”

“Like it?”

“Oh yeah, you have no idea what’s going through my head right now.”

“Oi! Don’t, your boyfriend’s through there.” _And my girlfriend, if I can call her that._ “I can’t believe you’ve settled down.”

Jack shrugs and starts to make the tea. “Well, my vortex manipulator burnt out in the 19th century and while I was trying to find you, I found him.”

“And now you’re taking on a kid.” The Doctor jumps to the conclusion.

“I mean not now that you’re here.” He says.

“Jack…” The Doctor starts but she has to take a moment to figure out where her sentence was going to end. “Jack, you will find me eventually but I can’t take you with me now.”

“Why not?”

“There are some things you need to realise first.”

“That I can’t die? Because I’ve already figured that one out.” Jack says a little bit too harshly for the Doctor’s liking. It must still be a fresh realisation for him and he hasn’t accepted it yet.

“There are still things you need to live through. How long has it been for you? Since platform five?” The Doctor asks him.

“How long has it been for you?” Jack throws the same question back at the Doctor.

“Three and a bit very long regenerations.” The Doctor answers honestly which prompts Jack to answer the same question.

“About seventy years.”

“You need to stay here. You’ll find me in about another fourty.”

Neither of them have anything else to say. The only noise coming from the room was the kettle coming to boil.

“Jane?” Yaz opens the door and stands by the Doctor’s side. “Everything alright you’ve been ages?”

The Doctor has to take a moment to remember that Yaz was addressing her.

“You don’t have to call me that, Jack and I know each other from.... Well from way back for me, not so long for him.”

Yaz looks between them and clearly clocks the serious looks on both their faces. She takes the Doctor’s hand in her own and Jack stares at the action. 

“What happened to R-”

“You’ll find out.” The Doctor interrupts before he could say her name. “Wait where’s Annie?” The Doctor says, realising she wasn’t used to leaving her alone anywhere that wasn’t inside the TARDIS.

“She’s fine, she’s taken a shine to Tommy, don’t worry.”

“He’s always wanted kids.” Jack tells them. “His ex wife planned to have one with him but when he couldn’t get it up for her-”

“Jack!” The Doctor frowns.

“What! It’s the truth. She’d planned it so much we’ve still got all the supplies in the attic.”

Yaz and the Doctor both share a look. If Jack and Tommy agreed to take Annie the hand over process will be much shorter if they already have the proper resources already. It was just convincing Jack to stay that was a problem.

“Do you two always look at each other that intensely or are you both suddenly very turned on?” Jack pouts, dipping his teabag up and down in his mug.

“Are you always that forward?” Yaz’s body language becomes very defensive.

“He is. Believe me, this is tame.”

They all take a mug each, Jack taking the extra one for Tommy, and find their way back to the front room. Through the doorway they saw Tommy sitting on the floor with Annie in front of him, singing ‘if you’re happy and you know it’ quietly and teaching her how to clap. It reminded the Doctor of how Ryan was with her.

“Look at that and tell me you don’t want to hang around.” The Doctor whispers, smiling smugly.

Jack sighs. “Do you ever get tired of being right?”

“Now I like him.” Yaz chuckles.

“What is this, gang up on a Time Lord day? Go and spend time with them.” The Doctor pushes Jack forwards and he keeps walking with the momentum. Tommy beamed up at him as he handed him his tea the same way Yaz looks at her when she explains planets and solar systems.

“What do we do now?” Yaz asks.

“We hang back, see how they are with her for the rest of the day. Step in if we need to.”

“Is he a good man?” Yaz asks.

“He is. Once you get past the arrogance but that soon fades away.”

Yaz smiles and exhales forcefully through her nose as a type of laughter. “This is it, isn’t it? The end of us looking after her.”

“I think so.” The Doctor says, draping her arm over Yaz’s shoulder. “But ends always mean the start of something else.”

The Doctor watches Jack try to suppress his smile as Annie stands in front of him and explains to him how clapping hands work. Of course, Jack didn’t know that she was actually giving very clear instructions, only the Doctor knew, but it was still adorable to watch. This was working. It was actually working. They had found a suitable and loving home with people that the Doctor trusted. For once she feels like she’s saving a life rather than ruining one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> watch the film Journeyman with Jodie in it if you want an emotional roller coaster, I watched it two days ago and yet I still can't stop thinking about it to the point where I'm promoting it in fic notes lmao it's SO GOOD


	16. Annie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realised that Jack actually does have a child in 1975 named Alice but we're ignoring that, I can't read, suddenly, I don't know, canon who?

The woman who called herself the Doctor was trying to explain something to her. Something mad. Something sad from the expression on her face. But she kept rambling and Annie couldn’t keep up. She picked up the names ‘Tommy’ and ‘Jack’ a lot and she could put faces to those names. Tommy was the one with the slim face and the big patches of hair on the sides of his face. He was nice and gave off a calming energy that the Doctor, no matter how hard she tried, did not have. Then there was Jack, a man with more chiseled features and a chin that looked like a peach, who seemed to pay more attention to the Doctor and Yaz watching them interact rather than her.

Yaz came in with backpack full of Annie’s clothes and supplies on her back. She started talking directly to the Doctor and didn’t acknowledge her at all. Annie likes how yaz usually tries her best with her, but the mothering instinct wasn’t quite there yet. Yaz was more like the babysitter that was only called on for one night every few months that you never got to develop a proper connection with, but they were brilliant when they were there. She doesn’t blame Yaz for being like it, especially since Annie could tell that there had been a shift in group dynamics, stemming from her and the Doctor’s relationship, while she had been with them.

Annie listens in to their conversation.

“So you know what happens to him? Jack, I mean.” Yaz asks.

“I do.”

“Is it good?”

“It’s safe enough for her. I trust him.”

That’s when Annie starts to not understand again. The Doctor knew what was going to happen and what has happened and what could possibly happen when no one else did. She talked about time and Annie didn’t know time or what it was. She only knew that there was the bright hot yellow thing in the sky that got replaced by the bright white rock when the sky went a darker shade of blue. Blue like the Doctor’s top. Not totally blue there were blocks of different colors. What were they called? Ryan and Graham told her them the other day but she can’t remember anything but yellow. Yellow. It was her favourite out of all of them. It was the same colour as the Doctor’s hair too.

“Everyone ready?” The Doctor’s voice brings her back to her surroundings.

Graham and Ryan were here now. The issue of time again rearing its head because she didn’t know how long she had been staring at the Doctor’s chest for. Ryan was smiling at her but sadly. Smiles were meant to be happy. She reaches out for him, wriggling out of the Doctor’s arms and into Ryan’s.

“What’s wrong?” She asks him.

“She’s asking you what’s wrong.” The Doctor parrots.

Ryan looks back at her with a glint in his eye that looks like he’s about to tell a lie, so she turns on the charm that she knows will get her what she wants. The truth.

“I’m just going to miss you lots.” He says.

“I’ll miss you too.”

“She says she’ll miss you too.”

“I’m sorry this has happened to you.” Ryan tells her but Annie doesn’t get what there is to be sorry about.

She’s had the time of her life living in the weird box with flashing lights with two women trying to keep order and two kind hearted boys that acted like the father she never got to meet. For the time she was here she felt like she belonged, or at least she guessed that was how it would feel. She was fed, cared for, listened to and included. She didn’t get that feeling in her tummy that she got when her real mum had her. LIke she wasn’t wanted.

“Come on, let’s not keep them waiting any longer.” Graham reminds them to as to why they were all huddled at the front doors.

“Say ‘bye-bye’ to the TARDIS, Annie.” Ryan says.

“Bye-bye TARDIS.” Annie says and copies Ryan by waving. The house makes a very loud noise and Annie’s eyes grow wide with both shock and amusement.

Outside, the air smelt of salt, just like when Ryan took her to put her feet in the big pool of water a few days ago. Wherever this was, her new home to be, it was colourful. She liked the colours. She watched them pass by as the informal family walked in a group. Ryan was talking to Yaz about the Doctor, but after a few seconds of listening in she realised they were talking about something she hadn’t heard of before nor understand the concept. Bored with the two nearer her age, Annie listens in to the people in front of her. The Doctor herself however wasn’t as talkative as usual. Graham asked a couple of questions and she gave short answers which Annie found very out of character. When she and the Doctor were in a room together, the Doctor was always talking. Always.

Annie recognises the little house they were approaching as the same one from the day before. The Doctor didn’t need to knock because Tommy and Jack were waiting at the window and opened the door the second they opened the front gate. They were both in very high spirits, despite Tommy explaining that Jack had just come back from a night shift. The group all get invited inside.

“Wow. You weren’t kidding when you said you had the stuff that would be needed.” Yaz says as they all fill in to the front room, packed with cots and clothes and toys for the Doctor’s approval.

“I mean business kid.” Jack says rather smugly. “I don’t half ass things.”

“And that’s how you know he’s military.” Tommy smirks.

“We aren’t military, we’re just an organised organisation.”

While the adults talk, Annie spots a rather sweet looking teddy on a chair and forces Ryan to put her down so she could crawl over to it. Ryan and Graham get formally introduced to the two mean the Doctor had explained she was now going to live with. She could sense from just the sheer energy of the room that they were getting the seal of approval, which Annie thought should really only be hers that matter but they were only looking out for her. They think that she hasn’t absorbed everything that they had talked about in front of her. She may still be young, a baby still, but she understood when she was being discussed and if it was negative or positive.

Jack picks Annie up without warning and she just manages to keep hold of her new teddy bear.

“I promise to keep you safe.” He says, looking her right in the eye.

“Jack, can I have a word?” The Doctor says, waving him over into the hallway. Jack goes to her but doesn’t put her down.

“What’s up?” He asks.

“If you can’t keep her safe, don’t promise it to her.” The Doctor says, her face looking quite cold compared to normal.

“I can, Doctor.”

“Are you sure, because Tourchwood-”

“How do you know about that?” Jack shifts Annie over to the other side of his body.

“I’m from your future Jack, I know a lot of things you probably wish I didn’t.”

“Nothing too explicit I hope.”

“Jack I’m serious.” The Doctor steps closer to the both of them. Annie now can’t directly see the Doctor’s face, but the air in the gap between them felt strained. For the first time around the Doctor Annie felt a little bit scared. “I’m going to be tracking this family now. Every step you make, every trip you have with her, every argument, every time you so much as raise your voice I will know about it and if too many incidents happen, I will make your life tricky. I’m trusting you with this, Jack, this is a child's life.

“Those two kids with you, they’re barely in their twenties. Surely you have enough children’s lives to look out for.”

Annie sees the Doctor’s jaw tense up. “Don’t get clever.” Is all she says.

“I promise.” Jack repeats.

Graham pokes his head around the corner when the room went still. “Doc, it’s time we got going.”

“Time to say goodbye, Annie.” The Doctor says.

“Will I see any of you again?” She asks her. It had suddenly just hit that this would be the first time she was left alone without the nice people that took her in. She had finally grasped what ‘temporary’ meant.

“Maybe one day in the future.”

The Doctor gently kisses the top her her head and moves to the side, out of reach.

“Thank you,” Yaz move up next and rubs her thumb against her cheek and smiles. “you know what for.” She moves to the side just as the Doctor did so that Graham could fill her place.

“Remember to keep smiling kiddo.” Graham says and winks quickly before leaving.

Ryan awkwardly steps in front of her. He had done the most in her eyes and they had made the strongest connection.

“Ryan Sinclair.” He says, strained. “Remember me.”

Annie feels her heart start to beat faster. She reaches out to fling her arms around his neck for a hug and clings on tightly, almost choking Ryan.

“As if I could forget. I’ll miss you most.” Annie says. “Doctor tell him I said that.”

“I will.” The Doctor says.

“What did she say Doctor?” Ryan asks.

“I’ll tell you later.”

Ryan pulls away from her tiny yet fierce grip. “Why not now?”

“Because you’ll never leave if I do.”

Annie can’t do anything but watch Ryan take a sad step back. A small pool of water starts to form in her bottom eyelids but she refuses to let them out.

“Don’t take any crap from people, yeah? And don’t trust Margaret Thatcher.”

“Ryan!” The Doctor warns him.

“Who’s Margaret Thatcher?” Tommy asks.

“Believe me, you’ll find out.” Graham scoffs and Yaz suppresses a giggle. “Come on mate, let’s let them get on.”

Annie wanted them to wait. She wanted them to figure out how she could live with all six of them at the same time because she liked Jack and Tommy but she felt most secure with Ryan, Yaz, Graham and the Doctor. It was the change. She didn’t like the next change in a very long line of changes that was playing out. As soon as she got used to someone they would leave her. All she could do was watch the four of them walk out that front door, onto their next adventure as she was going onto hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we are again at the end of another 'I do what I want' fic that I only half-ass planned and ended up a bit meh so thank you for your support because I 100% would have just not continued half way through. Big love to you all, even if you simply just read it, I still see that


	17. Yaz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, me again, long ass story short I cut this chapter but now I'm bringing it back for two reasons 1) I'm writing a slowburn and realised it will be fucking forever until I get to write thasmin interacting like this again so theres a little bit if self indulgence on my part and 2) @itssoverynicetomeetyou was right there are some loose ends that need tying up so here we go (again) for the official last chapter ladies men and non binary friends !!
> 
> if you were happy with how it ended last chapter feel free not to read this because it's Not The Best

Yaz lays in her bed unable to sleep. No matter what she tried to get herself to drift off, it didn’t work. Not tonight. Partially because she’s thinking about Annie. Partially because she’s worried about how her friends are taking it. Mainly because of the Doctor next to her had been laying on her back throwing a tennis ball up and catching it again for the last hour exactly. She was running on automatic and Yaz could tell by counting. The Doctor throws the ball. Three seconds of airtime. She catches it. There’s a pause. She throws the ball. Three seconds. She catches. Pause. Throws ball. Three. Catch. Pause. Throw. Three. Catch. Pause. Throw-

Yaz had had enough. She rolls onto her other side and catches the ball mid-air, breaking the cycle. It takes the Doctor half a second to register that the ball wasn’t going to land in the palm of her hand and she only clocks Yaz when she sees the ball being held by her. Yaz chucks the ball away. She didn’t really care where it landed but the TARDIS did, and she make a noise of disapproval at how Yaz was treating her. Once the noise dies down and Yaz tries to apologise telepathically, she turns her attention back to the woman laying beside her.  

“What are you thinking?” Yaz asks quietly, lacing her fingers between the ones on the Doctor’s throwing hand. Her nails still dirty from scrubbing down the outside of the TARDIS to get rid of the graffiti.

“That it’s too quiet. Too empty.” The Doctor shifts herself onto her side to face Yaz from a more comfortable position for both of them. “And that you catching that was kind of hot.”

Yaz smiles and huffs at the same time. Even when everything felt wrong the Doctor could still find space to fit her unexpected charms. Yaz didn’t know what to say back, so she kept mucking around with the Doctor’s hand, lifting it up and around and down and sideways slowly, not letting it fall out of her grip. They both watched her do it in silence. The only sounds to be heard were their breathing and the crisp sheets rustling through their movements.

“I know what you mean.” Yaz says, resting her head further into their shared pillow. “About it feeling strange.”

“I never said it was strange.” The Doctors brow furrows at Yaz’s misunderstanding.

“Huh?”

“I’m used to my TARDIS being quiet and empty, I’m just not used to it being quiet and empty and there are people still here.”

The Doctor’s eyes shift focus to behind Yaz, where Yaz knows Annie’s sleeping arrangements are still set up. Empty. To get her to focus, she untangles her hand and pulls the duvet over both of their heads. The Doctor was unfazed by the action and had retreated so easily back into her head. 

“Doctor.” Yaz says to grab her attention. It works. “Admit that you got attached.”

The Doctor gulps. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I don’t think any of us did.”

The lighting was now truly terrible since they were covered up but that didn’t stop Yaz from seeing the Doctor smile sadly. She didn’t need to see the Doctor’s hand reach up to caress her cheek, because she could feel it, and the lack of sight made her skin's reaction more sensitive. Every brush of her thumb, every trace of her jaw had ten times more feeling. The Doctor’s eyes glistened but Yaz couldn’t tell if it was natural or if she was crying. She didn’t ask or pry, she just lays there, letting the blonde stroke her face and hair, letting her remind herself that she was real.

“Ryan and Graham are awake.” The Doctor says after a while.

“How do you know?”

“I can hear them.”

“With your alien ears?”

“Yes, with my alien ears.” The Doctor cracks a smile. “They’re coming to find us.”

The Doctor tries to break the nest they’ve made and pull away the covers. Yaz tugs them back.

“Wait.” She says but she doesn’t know what to say after that. All she knows is that she wants to stay like this and she recons the Doctor knows it because she doesn’t protest or push on until there’s a knock at the door.

“Doctor? Yaz?” Ryan’s voice floats through the door.

“Told you.” The Doctor whispers, jumping out of bed. Yaz follows her to answer the door. “Can’t sleep either?” The Doctor says, noticing that both of them were still in their day clothes and hadn’t even attempted to sleep like Yaz had.

“It feels like someone’s missing.” Graham says.

“She said that too.” Yaz tells them, pointing at the Doctor standing next to her.

“So what do we do?” Ryan asks.

“There’s nothing we can do for her now.” The Doctor answers.

“I meant for us. What do _we_ do.”

“We’re in a time machine.” Yaz says. “You said we could observe her.”

“I did say that, didn’t I." The Doctor bites her lip and thinks for a moment. "Come on.”

The Doctor, who was clearly formulating a plan in her head, made her way to the control room. All of them followed her blindly a few steps behind, not bothering to ask what she was intending to do. The Doctor flicks some switches and pulls a lever, propelling them off into the time vortex. Yaz and Ryan were also propelled into each other but it meant and had to use each other’s frames to not collapse onto the floor completely.

“Oh, how I have missed this!” The Doctor exclaims over the noise of the machine.

“I forgot how bad her driving was.” Ryan mutters as they steady themselves.

“Oi, heard that!”

The Doctor spoke with annoyance but her face told a completely different story. Yaz knew that she had been longing to get up into the sky again for a few days now and she was practically glowing with joy at being able to be one with her machine again.

The TARDIS lands with a final jolt. Graham, Ryan and Yaz all head to the door like it was second nature to do so.

“Hold on you lot, let me scan the area first.” The Doctor calls the back. “And Yaz, you’re not exactly... dressed.”

Yaz looks down at her body and remembers she’s still in her pyjamas. They could pass for regular clothes, but it was highly doubtful they would while she was standing next to properly dressed people.

“Alright fashion police, don’t forget what you rocked up in when we first met you.”

“Yeah but I still looked good though.” The Doctor winks.

“Were you always this narcissistic or…?”

“You’re not denying it.”

“Can you stop flirting and go get changed.” Ryan shimmies Yaz off, unimpressed knowing that their friend was somewhere outside the TARDIS doors.

Yaz runs back to her room, throws on whatever clean clothes she could find without looking too hard, and runs back. However, there was only the Doctor left waiting for her.

“They’re already outside.” The Doctor says, as if she could read Yaz’s mind.

“Why aren’t you?”

The Doctor shrugs. “Didn’t want you thinking we’d all been kidnapped or something. I also checked Annie's records.”

“And?”

“We’re in 2026. She’s fifty-eight years of age, married, has two children, moved to Sheffield in 2015, works for the NHS as a cancer nurse. Literally worked the same shifts as Grace.”

“No way! So when Graham-”

“Yup! There was a chance she could have treated him instead of Grace and they fell in love.” The Doctor scrunches up her nose. “Bit awkward.”

“God yeah.” Yaz laughs.

“It just bugged me because it’s like her path in life was always meant to cross with us.”

“Don’t overthink it. Anyway, we might find out someday.” Yaz reaches her arm out but she doesn’t know where to let her hand land  on the Doctor’s body. So, she let it fall back to her side but it doesn’t reach its destination, because the Doctor catches it, brings it to her lips and kisses the back of her hand. The action shocked Yaz a bit and she forgot that right now would be the proper time to say something.

“Let’s go.” The Doctor says, leading her outside and ignoring Yaz’s inability to be able to have a social interaction.

The TARDIS had landed outside a park in Sheffield. Yaz recognised it straight away as a place she used to hang out alone after school when she was younger. They were standing across the street from it but there was no doubt in the little cafe being busy. It occurred to Yaz that they didn’t actually know what Annie looked like grown up. She was about to ask when a woman left the cafe and immediately noticed the TARDIS. She was far away but she was evidently tall, perhaps even the same height as Ryan, with unmissable brown eyes. She dressed colourfully with hints of yellow in her jewelry and clothes. She was with a man. A very old and fragile man in a wheelchair that didn’t look like he had much life left in him.

“Can we go and speak to her?” Ryan asks.

“Best not.” The Doctor says. No one’s eyes were leaving the people across from them. It was an intense version of a staring contest. "If she wants to speak to us, let her come."

"She's not a cat." Yaz says.

“Doc, we look exactly the same as we did in 1969, surely we-”

“Jack is a time traveller.” The Doctor interrupts Graham’s valid concern.

“I thought you said you were the last of your kind?” Yaz asks, confused.

“Last of the Time Lords, not last of the time travelers.”

“So you left her with a male version of you?” Ryan asks for clarification.

“Bloody hell, no! I’m not that irresponsible. He doesn’t actually start travelling again for years but I told him to tell her everything about me and the TARDIS if she remembered anything.”

Still in shock, the Grown up Annie across the road lifts her hand and waves stiffly. All four of them become compelled to smile and do the same back. It was moments like this that reminded Yaz of the surreality of time travelling. For them it had been a day. For Annie it had been almost an entire lifetime and yet here they both were, standing at the same point in time. Did she even properly remember all of them? Did Jack ever actually get a chance to explain about them and the TARDIS and it’s only now, seeing them, that Annie remembers? So many unanswered questions that can’t be solved easily without going against what the Doctor days.

“Do you think she remembers?” Ryan asks.

“Probably. A lot of the time if anyone even makes the smallest telepathic link with the TARDIS it can interrupt dreams for years and she lived in the old girl for a week.”

“Are we going to get that?” Ryan asks.

“You ask that as if I’m going to get rid of you. I’m not doing that anytime soon.”

“Doc, why do I recognise her?” Graham speaks up.

“Right, yeah! I explained to Yaz but she worked with your Grace. There’s a high chance you saw her around in the hospital when you were being treated.”

“Oh my…”

“This just gets more and more fucked up as it goes on, I can’t keep up anymore.” Ryan almost laughs out of disbelief and physically leans back against the blue box.

Tommy was now paying attention to them too. He certainly would remember who they were and what they looked like and his smile was so wide that they could see it as clear as day from across the street. Yaz supposes that they were also a link and reminder to his partner and she wonders if they ever got married when there was the opportunity to.

Annie didn’t cross over to speak to them. She must have been happy enough with how her life turned out that she didn’t need to bring up old ghosts. Instead, when she realised that they were all just in an intense personal  lockdown, Annie walked away with her adoptive father, onwards with her life. Graham was the first to go back into the TARDIS. Yaz followed him shortly after because the Doctor said she had a promise to keep for Ryan.

It made her feel okay, that Annie grew up and made something of herself. A mother. A nurse. A caring daughter. Nothing bad had happened to her, as far as they could tell, and everything seemed alright. Normal. Safe. 

“Yaz, I need you to come with me and Ryan.” The Doctor proclaims as she saunters back in.

“What? Why?”

“I need you to teach us both how to ride a bike.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TARDIS be like 'no ball games in the house'


End file.
